No Emergeny Exit
by mydoctortennant
Summary: MODERN AU; Sometimes relationships just don't work in order. Or so they find out when one mistake leads to a life altering experience.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Patients. Blood. Death. Sick. The occasional gut. All of which the team in Albion Hospital were used to seeing on a daily basis down in the ER. They were also used to God awful coffee from the machine in the Doctor's Lounge.

Personally, Guinevere Leodegrance found the '_Doctor's_ Lounge' to be most offensive, like the nurses weren't allowed to use it too, like she was now, waiting for more evil coffee to go through the filter. She would have been better off going across the road to Costa and spending two quid on a simple coffee, it would do her better than this, but she didn't have the time.

They were short of nurses as it was, she couldn't go disappearing.

The door opened behind her, she peered over her shoulder to see Doctor Le Fay and Nurse Emrys, otherwise known as her two best friends; Morgana and Merlin.

"Gwen," Morgana exclaimed on seeing her, "Tough shift?" the Graveyard shift had never been fun, ever. It was less fun when you were doing a double shift and the day wasn't any where near over.

"Three GSWs, all fatal. I've had to change five times because the same kid threw up on me, and oh yeah, Arthur's on this shift and I can't escape him."

It hadn't been pretty. She'd been avoiding him for the last couple of days. It wasn't right for the Chief of the ER and one of the nurses to date. Or have hot sex after drinking far too much after a really, really crappy shift. She'd managed to avoid him for the last three days successfully.

The door opened again, "_Mer_lin, there you are," and with that Gwen was glad she was facing away from him and at the still filtering coffee machine, "I need you to set up a line on Mrs Parker in Curtain Four. Get the history from the suspected Appy in Exam two. And, oh Morgana, you can take the broken arm in Exam Six. Then talk to Miss Williams in Curtain Three; her results are in."

Merlin made to leave without argument, waiting by the door. Morgana looked over at Gwen awkwardly, she didn't want to leave her on her own with her brother, unfortunately for Gwen, he would relish in the action of putting his own sister on probation, "You're a gem," she commented, scowling at him as she took the chart from his hands.

Merlin held the door for the female doctor, a scowl on his face.

"Goodbye, Morgana," Arthur ushered them out and shut the door behind them. Arthur was Dr Pendragon, Chief Attending of the ER, son of the Dean of Medicine. In short, he could fire Gwen at the drop of a hat if he so desired, and to make his life easier so he could go back to his girl-a-night ways, "Guinevere?"

"Dr Pendragon-" he looked at her sternly, "Arthur," she greeted, pouring her coffee from the freshly brewed pot.

"I was starting to think you'd been avoiding me."

"I have," she replied honestly, stirring in sugar. Arthur was leaning against the arm of the sofa.

"Look, Gwen-"

"Don't. It was a tough day, we were drunk, didn't mean a thing," she reasoned, attempting to walk past him to the door. Arthur reached out, taking her wrist in his stronger hand.

"Is that it?"

"Is what it?"

"It didn't feel like it meant nothing," Gwen sharply tugged her arm from his grasp.

"Arthur don't. We both know I mean very little to you. I'm your sister's little friend you didn't know the name of for ten years. You're my boss, that's all you'll ever be," she walked away, leaving the Doctor's lounge.

"Guinevere, you d-" Arthur shouted, his voice carrying door the hospital corridor, she looked back over her shoulder shooting him daggers until the door closed again and he could see her no more. He practically growled and hit the wall with his balled fist, _Why couldn't it be_ anybody _else_?

* * *

Hunched over one of the cubicle toilets, Gwen emptied her breakfast into the bowl another time, Morgana rubbing gentle circles on her lower back, holding her long hair out of the way, "Christ, Gwen, what did you have for breakfast?"

"I didn't."

"Dinner last night?"

"It's not food poisoning, Morgana, I've been feeling rough for a couple of days, it'll pass."

"You shouldn't be at work if you're upchucking," the Irish girl reasoned, flushing away her best friends vomit, continually rubbing circles on her lower back.

"We're short staffed as it is," Gwen argued, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. She stood slowly and made her way out of the cubicle and over to the sinks and washing her hand thoroughly. She dried them with a paper towel and placed it in the pedal bin before finally squirting her hands with her anti-bacterial gel and rubbing it in.

"Go home, we'll cope," Morgana ordered, looking stern and concerned, "Merlin can manage."

* * *

It had been the longest two minutes of Gwen's life to date. She'd scrubbed the toilet until it shined, cleaned her bath and shower even attacked the sink, but still found the two minutes to stretch before her.

She sat on the closed toilet lid, looking in the mirror opposite where she could see the top of her head in the bottom of it. Staring herself down, her mind wondered to the reason she was sat there now.

She'd gone back to his flat after sharing a bottle of wine with him after one of the hardest shifts she'd ever had to deal with in her five years of being a nurse. Two children had been involved in a smash up of five cars on the motorway. When they'd arrived they'd been talking, seemingly okay.

Half an hour later Gwen had gotten news that their mother had died on the operating table and it fell to her to break the news to them. She'd turned to him; knowing she couldn't do it alone and he'd been nice and stood in with her.

One of the kids, Elaina had cried so hard she'd started to cough, when she had taken her hand away there had been blood. It had all gone downhill from there. Her brother, Marty, had had internal bleeding that hadn't presented itself originally.

He didn't last the shift.

Both of them had worked past their time to help with the pile up victims. They'd left together and ended up in Joe's with that blasted first bottle. After one bottle they'd left, talking about how shit the day had been, and how much they wished that they didn't have to deal with kids, especially when they died.

Their conversation had taken them back to his flat in the nicer part of town to hers. He'd pulled out the oldest scotch he could find and they'd proceeded to get utterly riddled.

She dare not think about what came next – not again.

She took to humming to herself just as her phone alarm sounded; two minutes up.

"Here goes nothing," she picked up the lone white stick, her eyes screwed shut.

Slowly she opened her eyes and focused; "Oh no. Oh god."

Positive. The test was positive.

Guinevere was pregnant.


	2. Truth Will Out

Being a nurse, Gwen knew not to trust just one test. She'd seen a load of girls over the years come to her thinking they were pregnant when really they'd had a big lunch, memory lapse and a false positive.

The very same afternoon she had booked herself in for a professional test. Somewhere in her, her body was telling her that she already knew the truth.

She'd been able to squeeze in the very same afternoon, not having a lot of time off and the Duty Nurse understanding from the very same busy schedule she'd managed to find her a gap where a patient had cancelled that morning.

The lady, Nurse Bolter, wore a sympathetic look on her face, as if she was picking up on the vibes that Gwen was given off that pleaded for the test to be proven wrong.

As Nurse Bolter sat inputting Gwen's details onto the tube of her urine, she kept replaying moments in her mind. Wine. Scotch. Hands. Button. Fingers. God it felt so good.

Then she remembered exactly who it was. The womanising prat she worked for.

Yet when she remembered the touch of his hand running up the inside of her thigh she couldn't help the excitement she felt.

"Okay, so we'll send this off to the lab for you," Gwen snapped out of her reverie, "we should be able to get the results by tomorrow. I understand you're busy, so would you prefer for us to give you a call with the result?"

"That would be great, thank you," Gwen replied; her nerves suddenly back.

"If you could just confirm that your contact details are correct," she reeled off two numbers, Gwen nodding at them both, "Okay great. We'll let you know as soon as possible, Miss Leodegrance."

"Thank you."

* * *

She may have thought the two minute wait had been suspenseful, but waiting near twenty-four hours for the nurse to call her was damn near killer. She'd just finished with a patient when her phone started to ring in her nurse scrub pocket.

"Hello?"

"Good afternoon, Miss Leodegrance?"

"Speaking."

"Hello, I'm Jayne Bolter calling from Cenred Medical Centre, I've got your results. Is this a good time?" She asked as Gwen reached the lounge, looking around and seeing nobody there.

"Now is fine," _As good a time as any,_ she thought to herself, leaning against the side of the sofa like Arthur had a month ago.

"Okay, the results are as follows;" _Yes?_ "Pregnancy test for Miss Leodegrance," _Yes?_ "Have come back from the lab as-" _Oh get on with it!_ "Miss Leodegrace?"

"Pardon?"

"The result was positive."

"Oh," it confirmed what she knew, yet she couldn't help but sink down onto the seat properly.

"Are you okay, Miss Leodegrance?"

"I'm fine, thank you. Thank you for calling."

"Do you need any help organising appointments?"

"No, I'm okay, thank you."

"Okay, have a nice afternoon."

"You too," Gwen hung up, "You too."

* * *

Merlin Emrys had wanted to be a surgeon.

When he was younger he'd cut up insects and plants, even the toys his mother gave him and try and find the problem. The things with bugs was they tended to squish at the touch of the blade. Plants were incredibly flat and well toys – they were just filled with white fluff.

When he'd hit medical school he'd run out of funds, he didn't have the means to train any further and for the last two years had been a nurse at Albion County Hospital. In such a time he'd made firm friends with Gwen, moved in with her to split the rent and found a girlfriend who could understand his long working hours.

Unlike Gwen, he didn't find the lexical choice painted across the door to the break room demeaning; he just choice to ignore it in favour of rank coffee and a lumpy sofa.

When he'd seen Gwen with her head in her hands a he walked past the window with a pile of charts he had to know what was wrong. It was part of his nature. He had to fix it if he could. He dropped the charts off at the nurses' station and entered the Doctor's Lounge with caution.

"Gwen?" he called out, she didn't look up, but her crying subsided, wiping her cheeks of the tear tracks, "Gwen what's wrong?" She didn't offer him anything, so he took a seat next to her, gently leaning her into his chest, hand on her shoulder, "What's wrong?" he whispered into her hair, gently rubbing his hand up and down her bicep.

"How could I slip, Merlin?" she asked quietly, "Why did I let this happen?"

"What's wrong, what's happened?"

"I should have known better, I never should have gone back with him."

"Gwen, who are you-" then it dawned on him, the only person – to his knowledge – that she had recently gone home with had been their mutual annoyance and boss, "What did he do?"

"He didn't do anything," she sobbed, "It's just really," he voice broke, "really, bad luck."

"Gwen, you're not-" he stopped himself from asking, not knowing if he even wanted the answer. He took a few deep breathes and took the plunge, "You're not pregnant, are you?"

"I don't know what to do," was the only answer she gave him, but that in itself was a good enough confession, "I've not spoken to him for a month. Even then it was just to get him to sign off a chart. We've not had a conversation for two."

"Do you want him to know?"

"I could never get rid of it, not after that accident. This job, it makes you realise that life is too precious."

"Are you ready?"

"I'm going to have to be."

"And what about Arthur? You know what he can be like, what if he doesn't accept your decision?" but that hadn't entered into Gwen's mind. It had been one of the topics of conversation they'd had that night that she could still remember.

Both of them admitted that they didn't think they could ever support having an abortion (in his partner's case for Arthur) considering they witnessed everyday just how quickly life could be taken from them.

It had been the last part of conversation before they'd both closed the gap that had gradually been decreasing and kissed. Leading to buttons. Hands. Fingers. Pumping. Thrusting. Shouting his name.

"It's not like he hasn't got the money to support you."

"Merlin, can we not do this now?" she asked, pulling away from him, hooking her arms around her knees and sinking into the arm of the sofa, "I need to think about this, I can't go running head first into this. I just need to think it through."

"Anything you need, let me know okay?" Merlin offered, putting his hand on her knee in reassurance.

Gwen rested her own shaking hand on his in attempt to calm herself, gently squeezing his hand as if _he_ was the one in need of reassurance, "Right now, I just need to get back to work."

* * *

Gwen loitered by the door to the OB clinic, she'd spent the last ten minutes trying to build the courage to go in. She needed to book an appointment for an ultrasound, and it was quicker and easier for her to do it in Albion rather than keep making trips to Cenred, at least she could make her appointments in her lunch break or after her shifts.

"Gwen?" the nurse turned to see Morgana walking alongside a gurney down the corridor.

"Morgana," Gwen tried to smile and failed, she wouldn't be able to lie to her, the girl to read her like a book, like she had some sort of ability to read minds.

"What are you doing up here?" she asked, instructing the nurses and fellow doctor with her to carry on to the Intensive Care Unit without her.

"If I said patient follow up you'd never believe me, would you?"

"Not in the slightest," Morgana replied, her look was sympathetic; but her body was tense. Gwen looked away from her friend, unable to keep eye contact with her, "Do you want me to come in with you?" Morgana set her hand on Gwen's shoulder in firm reassurance that it would 'all be okay', when to Gwen it couldn't be more from the truth.

"I'm only making the appointment," Gwen admitted looking down at her hands as she fiddled with the ring her father had given her on her eighteenth birthday. Morgana squeezed her shoulder and let her arm drop.

"Dr. Le Fay?" a nurse called up the corridor. The Doctor looked over towards the other nurse and nodded at her in recognition.

"I'd better go, I'll talk to you later, okay?" Morgana reached out once again and rubbed Gwen's arm. She had taken it better than Gwen had thought she would, but she knew Morgana. She knew that deep down she would be wanting to go and tear her brother limb from limb.

"Morgana," Gwen called out as her friend passed her, Morgana turned back around to face her as she continued to back away, "I'm sorry I didn't want you to find out like this."

"I know," Morgana smiled at her encouragingly, as much of a shock that it was, she knew Gwen didn't need her being angry about it. It seemed that the poor girl was in enough of a daze about it as it was. What she needed was support right now, "Come and get me if you need me, yeah?" Gwen nodded.

* * *

"You're looking at about eight weeks since you last menstrual cycle. Approximately six weeks since conception. That you can see there, is the heartbeat," Gwen knew this, but she played along to humour the OB, Doreen, and Morgana who was smiling at the screen like a toothy maniac.

"Your baby is all healthy, Gwen, nothing to worry about, sweetie," Doreen smiled taking the probe from the young nurses abdomen, "Here you are," she passed her a wad of tissues to wipe herself over, Gwen mumbled her thanks.

"If you schedule yourself in for about seven weeks' time, okay?" Gwen nodded sombrely as Doreen handed her a small picture. It was all black and white with this indiscriminate blob on it.

That indescribable blob was her baby. Their baby.

"How am I going to tell him?" Gwen asked as they left the office and headed for the reception to book the second appointment.

"Shove the picture in his face and tell him to say hello to Mini Arthur?"

"I'm serious, Morgana!"

"So am I!"

Gwen scheduled her appointment, accepting the polite smiles of the middle aged woman behind the counter. They exited the department and headed for the lift.

Morgana hit the Ground Floor button and watched the doors shut before continuing with their conversation out of privacy for her friend.

"So it's definitely his?" she asked, trying not to sound quite so disgusted by the prospect of her brother having his evil devil spawn with her best friend.

"Morgana," Gwen warned in tone and her glare.

"Just checking."

"We were safe. We were careful."

"Not always enough, is it?"

"Guess not," with one floor to go the conversation dwindled.

"Well, you've got seven weeks to figure it out," Morgana stated just as the doors opened to the jam packed ER. _Yeah, I suppose I have.

* * *

_

Arthur had spent the last four minutes and thirty-two seconds looking for Gwen. He'd spent the last three days on shift with either Merlin or Morgana suffering from deathly glares and awkward silences.

He knew he hadn't pissed them off directly (mainly because Morgana wasn't giving him the cold shoulder and ignoring him point blank and when Merlin was usually annoyed at him for pissing him off he would be intolerably talkative to irritate Arthur back). He knew that it must have been something he'd done to somebody of common acquaintance and the only person who fell into that category that they would get annoyed for is Gwen.

It had been worse than the looks they'd given him for the last two months collectively. He'd tried but no matter how hard he just couldn't get it through to that he didn't use Gwen. No matter how many times the words passed his lips. Through some terrible misunderstanding on Gwen's part she had come to the conclusion that the night they'd slept together had meant near to nothing to Arthur, when in fact it was the complete opposite.

She'd become rather talented at avoiding him - getting Leon or Kay to sign off on the patients that needed no further assistance - so when he caught a glimpse of the back of her head going into the Doctor's Lounge he made to follow her.

When he looked through the window in the door he saw her sitting on the sofa with her back to him, looking at a small picture in her hand. He felt the urge to knock, but stopped himself when he reminded himself that it was public domain and he didn't need to.

"Guinevere?" he saw her put the black and white image back into her scrub pocket, "Have I done something to upset you?"

"Why do you say that?" she asked voice quiet and lacking its usual mocking tone she took with him. Something was definitely up.

"Because Morgana and Merlin are annoyed with me."

"And you don't think you did something to upset them?" she asked, confused.

"If they were annoyed with me because I'd done something to then I wouldn't be dead twenty times over from the death glares Morgana is sending my way instead of ignoring me," he utterly nervously, for a man who was usually concise in his orders it was unnerving to see him trip.

"And Merlin?"

"Is quietly watching me stew instead of talking my ear off; which is unlike him. So that just leaves you," he realised he probably could have phrased it better instead of making it sound like that made it worse somehow.

But in some way it did. He knew he should have tried speaking to her after their argument but she'd made it impossible and getting her number would mean raiding her file or asking Morgana or Merlin, which just seemed somewhat stalkerish.

"You got to that conclusion how?"

"Because you are the only thing we all have in common that they care about," it was a fair assumption he thought and the flash over Gwen's features told him he was right, "What have I done?"

"Nothing."

"Oh, come on, Gwen. I might be a prat but I wasn't born yesterday."

"If you had been there wouldn't be a problem, would there," she'd meant it as a joke, but Arthur wasn't laughing. _It's now or never,_ she admitted to herself, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the sonogram picture she had been looking at before. She held it out for Arthur to take.

He stared dumbly down at it, she offered it again and he took it.

"Er, congratulations?"

"That is my eight week scan," she told him, it didn't seem to sink in, he was still looking at it.

"And they're giving me evils because I've what? Refused you maternity leave?" she didn't reply to that, only glared at him with a raised eyebrow, "Eight weeks?"

"A week ago."

Gwen watched his face as he did the maths. She'd never known Arthur Pendragon to be stunned into silence before. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came and he promptly closed it again. Staring at the picture in his hand he sank into the sofa next to her silently.

"But you can't be," he offered.

"You think I didn't think that? Imagine my utter inability to think when my period date had been and gone by a week, two weeks; three. I still don't quite believe it, but I can feel it," she subconsciously raised her hand to rest over her stomach.

"Oh God, Gwen, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"Wow, have you tried telling the two Ms that?"

"They didn't listen," a small laugh left Arthur's lips, along with what Gwen had heard as 'typical.' "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I only found out last week."

"Who went with you for the scan?"

"Morgana," Gwen admitted. That bit hurt; his own sister had been there over him, then again she had a sixth sense for these things and he doubted Gwen had told her in so many words before Morgana had joined the dots together. A few shifts off her with nausea. A shift swap last week for 'unforeseen circumstances'. It all started making sense.

"What are you going to do?"

"Don't take this the wrong way-"

"Oh," he looked disappointed, handing her back the photo, "I understand, I mean it was all a mis-"

"No, Arthur, please let me finish," he stopped and looked at her as she pushed the photo back towards him, "This foetus is a product of our neutral agreement that we could never take a child's life. Kind of. I stand by that. I couldn't even contemplate answering positively when the nurse asked me if it was an option."

"You're having the baby?"

"I'm having the baby. With or without you."

"Guinevere, don't think I'd ever leave you deal with this on your own! I might not be perfect but I'm not an arsehole. I'll be there, for you, for," he looked at the picture in his hand again, "Blobby here," Gwen laughed, "Both of you. For the next seven months; the next seven years; hell the next seven decades if you'd let me."

"Arthur, you don't have to make promises like that."

"No, hear me out. I never got to say it before. You were too busy shooting me down," Gwen looked away guiltily flattening her nurse's shirt over her currently unaffected abdomen, "I wanted to tell you, that," he paused turning himself in his seat to face her, "That it didn't mean nothing to me. It took kids dying, a really shit day at work and comforting you over alcohol for me to even get you near me long enough without Morgana there. The last two months have been somewhat hellish without your sarcasm and retorts."

"Arthur?"

"I don't want to force myself on you, not again-"

"I don't remember being particularly forced-"

"But we could do this right. I want to," he timidly reached out a hand and rested it over hers on her shirt, "If you want."

"Arthur, I," she had know Arthur Pendragon, son of Uther, Doctor extraordinaire for a long time. Never had she seen him so vulnerable and open to anybody or anything. She knew deep down he wasn't the persona he used to take charge of the Emergency Room. And she would never have spent time with him if she hadn't liked him.

He removed his hand and withdrew from her personal space completely; "Doesn't matter, it was only a thought," he stood, lying the sonogram on the table in front of them before heading for the door behind the sofa to try and avoid her. Quickly she reached forwards and grabbed the picture, then turned and stuck her arm in front of him to stop him.

"I heard the new Ewan McGregor film is good," he smiled gently down at her. Gwen offered him the sonogram and the smile grew.

"Thank you.


	3. It's a Little Bit Funny

**WARNING: Things get a weee bit hot in this chapter! =]**

"You didn't tell me it was all about Ewan McGregor, Jim Carrey and a great love affair," Arthur complained as they walked out of the dark screening room. He held the door for her after he'd walked through it.

"It was fun to watch you squirm."

"I'm glad you thought so," they both laughed walking side by side, Gwen carrying the remains of the popcorn in her left hand, her right dangled by her side, "It was pretty funny though."

"Yeah, it was," Gwen laughed. They reached the outside; the early spring evening air had a chill in the air. They passed a bin and Gwen dropped the popcorn box into it. She awkwardly hung her hands at her sides, not having anything to fiddle with now. Her coat didn't have any pockets so she settled for playing with the bottom hem.

Arthur could see the movement out of the corner of his eye and during a lull in the conversation he took his opportunity to touch her hand gently, running a finger over hers. She released her coat and rotated her wrist taking his warmer hand in hers. He smiled to himself, revelling in the silence to enjoy the moment.

They made their way to the closest tube station. They both swiped their Oyster cards and didn't let go of each other as they went through the same gap one after the other. When they reached the escalator Arthur took the step in front of Gwen and turned to face her, the height of the step making hers level to his and moved his satchel so it wasn't between them. Without a thought he reached his spare hand to rest over the front of her coat, as if he could feel the heartbeat through the garment and inches between his hand and the baby. No matter how ridiculous the notion was.

The remained in a companionable silence all the way down the long escalator, Arthur studying her face followed by her soon-to-be rounded abdomen. Drinking in every aspect of her. Gwen watched him, every detail of his actions, the way he held himself, the way he was with her. She ended up laying her free hand over his gently tapping out a pretend heartbeat.

"Careful," she commented as they came to the end of the escalator, breaking the silence and the moment that had come with it. Arthur turned and with a small jump disembarked the escalator, Gwen following his movements exactly, "I'm Westbound," she mentioned. Arthur studied the board.

"East," he looked at the list and it hit him, he had no idea which stop she was headed to, "How far have you got to go."

"Harrow," she smiled, "Not all of us can afford to live in Knightsbridge."

"I don't live in Knightsbridge."

"Sorry, Kensington," they both laughed, "I guess I'll see you are work tomorrow?"

"Don't be silly, I'll take you home."

"Arthur it's forty minutes away," she reasoned, it was already eleven, he wouldn't get home at this rate until at least one and they had to be at work for eight.

"What kind of date would I be if I didn't take you to your doorstep?" The argument settled itself as a tube pulled into the Westbound platform, "Quick!" he pulled her towards the train, only just making it with the doors beeper going off closed soon after.

The train itself was nearing empty, only a few others remained in the carriage meaning it was easy to get a seat. They sat together, still holding hands, Gwen gently resting her head on his shoulder. Arthur was absentmindedly tracing patterns on the back of her hand with his other.

"How did I do?"

"Movie was brilliant. Popcorn was up to standard."

"What about the company?"

"The company was," she elongated the word pretending to think, "satisfactory."

"Satisfactory?"

"Boarding on extraordinary," she smiled her head still resting on his shoulder. She could feel him smile into her hair as she pressed a gentle kiss to the top of her head.

* * *

As Gwen pulled the key out of the lock she allowed Arthur to follow her in, reaching for the switch on the wall. The light in the hall flicked on revealing an abandoned pile of post that had been kicked out of the way and an array of scattered shoes that had been toed off and missed the rack.

"Where's Merlin?" Arthur asked, standing in the doorway and looking dumbly at her.

"Probably at Morgana's, he normally is these days, I don't understand why he still bothers to pay rent here. Shut the door will you, it's freezing out there."

Arthur did as he was told, standing uncomfortably inside the door once he'd shut it flush and the lock had clicked into place.

"Do you want a cup of tea?" Gwen offered heading straight down the hall passed the lounge and into the small galley style kitchen.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Why not?"

* * *

They ended up sitting on her sofa, both at opposite ends facing each other cross-legged, both clutching their cups in their laps.

"What does it feel like?"

"What does what feel like?" Gwen asked back, taking a sure sip from her cooling tea.

"Having a person growing inside of you," he sounded genuinely intrigued and looked genuinely embarrassed looking into the depths of his cup as he asked.

"I've not really thought about it. I guess it doesn't really feel like there's anything there at the moment so it doesn't feel much different," she considered, "Ask me again in three months when I don't fit in any of my clothes and have to wear extra large scrubs."

"You'll never have to wear extra large scrubs. You're far too small. It would be like wearing a Cinderella skirt over your entire body," he looked up at her then, picturing the image and laughing.

"Keep the compliments until I'm the size of a house and feeling _really_ huge!" Gwen joked, warming her small hands on the hot sides of the cup. Arthur finished his and leant over to place the empty cup on the coffee table.

"I guess I should get going," Gwen looked over to the wall to see that it had long since passed midnight and was coming on half one. By the time he got back to his apartment it would be half two and he'd not get any sleep and she felt guilty. He'd only stayed because she'd asked him too.

"You could, umm," now it was her turn to look into her mug, "You could stay here? I mean, Merlin's at Morgana's so there's a spare bed and by the time you get back to Kensington well, there wouldn't be any sleep left to have. You came out all this way I couldn't just chuck you back out into the cold. I wouldn't feel right all night and I'd not be able to sleep and then I'd probably kill somebody tomorrow and-"

"Okay, okay," he interrupted her, a smile on his face, "I get it. Don't want you killing any patients now do we," embarrassed, Gwen shook her head slowly, catching his eye, "Which is Merlin's room?"

"The one with the path to the bed."

"Right?"

"The door next to the kitchen."

"Thanks."

Gwen finished the remains of her tea and grabbed Arthur's cup off the table as she stood, leading the way back into the hall, dropping the cups in the kitchen as Arthur stood awkwardly in the corridor.

"Here you go," Gwen reached through the door and flicked the switch, "I apologise for Merlin. He's not a natural housekeeper."

"I take it you stay out of here as much as possible?"

"I tidy the rest of the flat, he can tidy up his own mess," she reasoned, looking through into the lounge and kitchen to prove a point. The rest of the flat was spotless. Every dish was aligned and the magazines stacked neatly. There were no cup rings on the coffee table and coasters on every surface.

Merlin's room on the other hand was another state all together. It appeared he didn't know what a laundry hamper was, or indeed a cupboard, there was several morning's worth of coffee cups on his bedside table and abandoned socks scatted among the mess. Gwen hadn't been joking when she said there was a pathway to the bed. In the piles of clothes there was a trench – foot made – that went directly from the door to the bed. A small circle where Merlin must stand when getting changed and the rest of the floor covered. A pile of books and magazine precariously balanced on one side of the bed acting as a table for yet more cups and a crumb ridden plate.

"He doesn't take after you then."

"Not in the slightest."

"Well, uh, good night, Guinevere," he murmured, not knowing whether to move or wait for her to leave before he attempted the exploration to Merlin's bed.

"Good night, Arthur," she smiled. Both stood in the doorway for a second, eyeing each other waiting for the other to make the first move. After a short while, Gwen cleared her throat, bringing them both back down to Earth and into reality, "Well, night."

"Night," he kissed her lightly on the cheek and turned to face the disaster of Merlin's room. Gwen left him to it, getting herself into bed.

* * *

Sat on an expensive sofa - surrounded yet more expensive belongings, in the most _expensive_ home Gwen had ever stepped foot in - was Arthur, and an empty wine bottle, and a half empty bottle of whiskey. And Gwen.

"I couldn't do it," she slurred, "Too much death," Arthur nodded, and agreed with her, edging forwards towards her, raising his hand to her neck to draw her towards him.

His lips were hot on her own, the heat from the flat and the drink affecting her judgement. She pushed into him, manoeuvring so she could kiss him more openly. It didn't take a second for his tongue to be in her mouth, all lines of permission dropped and gone quicker than a whore's skirt.

Arthur laced one hand into her hair at the nape of her neck, keeping her close to him as the other slipped down her front and between her legs. Gently, over the material of her jeans he pressed against her very core, gradually his touch becoming rougher he seam on the trousers starting to hurt, "These have got to go," he just about managed to say, withdrawing his hand from between her legs and reaching to the button.

Her mind screamed at to stop him, but the throbbing wetness between her legs shouting back, begging to be touched without the barrier. He undid the button easily – practised – the zipper undoing itself as he pushed his hand deep under the denim, finding it's destination in a second.

He smugly grinned at the dampness that his fingers found, his mouth still working in sync to hers.

All strength leaving her, Gwen collapsed back into the arm of the sofa, Arthur and his mouth following hers, lifting his feet from the floor to plant one knee between hers and the sofa cushion, the other between her legs, forcing her to lie on the sofa completely.

Abandoning the thought of his trousers and his growing problems for a second, Gwen took the time to be selfish, hooking her thumbs in the belt hoops of her jeans and pulling them down, allowing the blonde better access. For a second she was grateful that she was wearing a good pair of lacy knickers opposed to a standard polyester.

It was then that Arthur's hand moved from her hair slipping under her back and lifting her from the sofa, one hand still very much teasing at her centre. He pulled her to standing, in the moment lifting her higher than her pointed toes would allow her to stand with her legs still slightly spread for his hand. With a small jump from Gwen, and Arthur's upper body strength lifting her, she wrapped her bare legs around his waist, and reconnected her mouth to his.

As he moved the pair of them across the laminate floor to his bedroom, he had to remove his hand away from her pleasure in order not to drop her, a disappointed groan escaped her lips was cut of as she was not too gently slammed into the wall next to his bedroom door as they reached his room. She exerted disgruntled moan followed by a sharp gasp as his slick finger finally returned and pushed passed the barrier of her sodden underwear.

His long finger slipped into her with a practised ease, she gasped again, head lolling back against the wall as he moved it in and out of her. When she let out a satisfied sigh he grinned cheekily and withdrew much to her annoyance. He guided her mouth back onto his own and gently lowered her to the floor. Her knees nearly buckled at the sudden need to co-operate, so Arthur kept her propped closely to the wall, one knee perch between her legs should she fall.

His trail of kisses left her swollen lips and worked their way down her jaw to the soft spot beneath her ear, continuing down to her neck. Her heartbeat raced, blood pumping through her veins, Arthur could feel it as he ran his tongue over her pulse point before gently sucking on it.

Mouth unoccupied, Gwen found herself rhythmically riding on his leg, trying to reach the same excitement level that he had provided her with. She slipped her hands to his belt, making quick work of the buckle before leaving the accessory in the loops and ignoring it in favour of the button. He bucked slightly then, sending her rising up the wall as she pushed away the material forcing them down his legs for him to step out of.

His mouth still working at her throat, Arthur caged her to the wall with one hand whilst the under travelled under the thinner fabric of her shirt, his fingers tickled slightly as they traced the skin by her hipbone, gently working the material until his hand cupped her breast. Massaging it gently for a moment before a gasp elicited from his lips.

Gwen had slipped her hand beneath the band of his boxers, pads of her fingers gently stoking his cock before wrapping her small hand about it making the semi-hard appendage quickly harden in her grasp. Once over the initial feel of her warm hand around him he set to work removing her shirt from her back completely. One hand reached behind her back, squeezing the clasp of her bra and popping it unlocked in a skilled second.

She withdrew her hand – to Arthur's protest - in order to let the slip of material drop to the floor. He lifted her again then, legs firmly about his waist, gently bobbing against his throbbing erection, as he trail kisses down her chest between her breasts. On reaching his bed he gently lowered her into the centre as he reached out to open the draw beside it, pulling out a foil packet as she edged his boxers off over his aching cock. She took the packet from him, opening it in her teeth before she rolled on the condom down over his length.

He hissed at the feel of her fingers before he planted his weight onto one of his elbows by her head, reaching his other hand back down between her legs where she was aching for his touch. She assisted, pushing the fabric down her thighs to get him full access, but he smirked, moving his kisses past her breasts and down over her stomach. He ran his tongue over her hip bone, gently nipping it.

Her fingers twisted into his hair, the slight uncomfortable trapped feeling left her. Somewhere in her ecstasy he'd ridded her of her lacy confounds. He placed a kiss to the inside of her thigh, dangerously close to her wet centre, his name escaping her lips in little less than a whisper. He continued away from her zone, travelling with her underwear to her ankles.

Slowly he worked his way back up her legs, spreading them wider the closer he came to placing a kiss in the same place on her thigh. He cheekily darted his tongue passed the moisture, causing her to cry out. Smug, he turned his attention back to her lips, positioning himself. He slipped his index finger back into her as she wrapped her fingers about his cock again, this time slowly pumping as he thrusted his finger into her. After another pump he gently pushed in a second finger, this time making her hiss into his ear. Slowly he delicately scissored his fingers until his two fingers moved in her with ease.

"Please," she begged as he claimed her dark nipple in his mouth, "Arthur," she moaned, the sound reaching his ears elongated and husky. He took the moment to admire what he'd been missing for the last ten years, she was everything he had imagined and more, skin suppler, curves and contours where hr clothing had never shown him before, "Please."

Not one to refuse a lady, he withdrew his fingers and pushed himself onto his hands. She directed his erection to her, her legs wrapped about him and moving with him to every thrust. He'd never done it before, but he looked deep into her eyes as he thrust into her. One of her hands on his bum, kneading at the muscle, her feet on the backs of his thighs, working with him to push him deeper into her.

Strangled breaths left Gwen's lips. The only thing she could think about was how good it felt, "Arthur-" he cut her off with a kiss. She traced her hand up his back, his skin slightly slick with sweat. He moaned her name, looking at her as he continued in his movements, rhythmic and slow; gradually building pace. Faster and faster.

Laboured breaths could be heard from both parties as they both reached their climax. Pleasure chorused through them within a matter of seconds of the other, Arthur's arms now unable to take his weight after he came. He rested on his elbows, propped up enough so not to squash Gwen completely. As their breathing calmed he gently pulled out of her and moved to sort himself out.

Gwen laid exhausted, one arm resting above her head as she attempted not to succumb to sleep. Arthur joined her again a second later, underneath the covers. He traced his hand up her clammy leg, over her stomach to cup her left breast in his hand. He massaged it gently like he had her right a matter of minutes ago, before he ran his hand up her arm, to her neck, gently turning her head to face him, kissing her firmly on the lips a kiss which she return in equal fervour.

Both of them completely sober now, completely aware of what they had done. Only it wouldn't hit Gwen for another six hours that she had just been shagged senseless by her boss.

* * *

Slowly Gwen stirred. She became aware of her familiar surroundings and the cold that attacked the bare skin of her arms and lower legs. Some when in the midst of her dream she kicked off her duvet, tangled herself in her own top and dislodged most of her pillows.

She sighed. She'd not thought about what had happened for a while, and to remember it so vividly as she slept was something else. It just had to be why Arthur was snoring in the other room. In fact, she was pretty certain that was _why_ she had dreamt it.

She rearranged her pillows and pulled her duvet from the floor and tried to settle back down to sleep.

The red numbers of her alarm clock seemed amplified, lighting her room and making it near impossible to sleep.

She gave up hope, standing and going for a glass of water.

She waited for the tap to run cold before half filling a pint glass. She took a few large swigs and padded back towards her room.

When she passed Merlin's room, she could hear Arthur's snores through the open door. She stopped, leaning against the door frame watching him. He looked peaceful. She usually saw him when he was busy, or ordering people around. Tonight had been so different. He'd been laid back, joking, and the nicest she had ever seen him.

And she liked it.

He made her feel safe. Special and wanted.

It was a side of him she'd never seen before and it was certainly one she wanted to stick around.

Giving up sleeping alone as a bad job, she shuffled along Merlin's pathway to the bed, she noticed that Arthur was sleeping on the same side as he had the previous night they'd spent together.

Silently she slipped under the covers, abandoning her glass of water on the pile of books, hoping it wouldn't smash in the remaining hours of the night.

She settled in the foreign bed, leaving inches between their bodies. The mattress shifted next to her, Arthur rolled over, a gentle hand rested on her midriff. She smiled, her hand covering his as she closed her eyes, letting sleep take her.


	4. Up up and away

**Part Three**

The alarm in Merlin's room sounded at six o'clock, waking it inhabitants with its brutal, shrill cry. Too little hours sleep rendered Gwen not wanting to open her eyes. She rubbed the sleep from the corners of her eyes. Arthur, in a particularly unawake state, hit the off button and pulled the covers over his bare arms.

"Morning," Arthur turned to seek the source of the voice and smiled. She looked positively baffled by being woken up and being in a room that wasn't he own. He imagined that the last time she'd woken up the next morning laying in a bed next to him she hadn't looked quite so serene about it. More panicked and possibly disgusted, still, that was then and this was the situation now and she looked positively adorable trying to figure out what was different.

"I thought I dreamt it," he mumbled. He sat up in the bed and looking around, the harsh light of day showing just how bad the mess in Merlin's room was, "Apparently my imagination didn't expect this," he said looking around.

"It's a war zone," Gwen laughed as she stretched, "Do you want some breakfast? We got toast, various sugary cereals-"

"Merlin?"

"Me," she grinned, still not sitting up, she fought the tiredness that beckoned to her to give in, "and some not so exciting cereals. I wasn't expecting a guest, so that's about it," she yawned, snuggling into the pillow beneath her head and closing her eyes.

Arthur smiled down at her, running his fingers through the loose hairs surrounding her face, "Various Sugary Cereal sounds good to me."

Suddenly, Gwen rolled onto her side, finding the path to the door and jumped from the bed, hand to her mouth, "Excuse me."

Arthur chewed on his lip before he got up and followed her into the bathroom at the other end of the hall. He found her, as he thought he would, hunched over the toilet, one hand holding back her fallen hairs.

"Okay?" he asked, gently rubbing his hand in the base of her back.

"Yeah," she reached for the glass she had stashed by the sink and rose to fill it, flushing the toilet as she rose. Arthur got up, taking the glass from her and filling it from the cold tap, "Thank you."

"How's your morning sickness been?"

"Relatively good at telling the time, thankfully. Easing off a lot now."

"I'm sorry I wasn't- I'm sorry I wasn't there for you before now."

"You didn't know. I didn't tell you."

"I tried to tell you before," he reasoned, laughing at himself, "It's no excuse, but I've wanted to tell you – that night – it meant everything to me. You just thought I was being my old self. I should have said something."

"I wouldn't listen to you, and you're here now, that's all the matters."

* * *

The Emergency Room was near deserted, a few nurses littered around refilling supplies in the wheeled carts as their shifts came to an end. Merlin was sat at the Admittance Desk looking bored.

"I've been here an hour and done nothing."

"Well maybe I shouldn't pay you for it," Arthur commented as he and Gwen walked by. Gwen stopped by the desk, quietly bidding farewell to Arthur as he carried on up the corridor towards the Doctor's Lounge.

"I'm working," Merlin exclaimed, moving from resting his head on the counter and grabbing an empty chart and filling it with unnecessary information.

"Good night, Merlin?" Gwen asked, resting her folding arms on the desk and leaning over it to view the chart he was scribbling away so fervently on.

"Could ask you the same thing," Merlin grinned cheekily, waggling his eyebrows, looking towards the Doctor's lounge, "how did it go?" a smile crept over Gwen's features, "Actually, I really don't want to know."

"I'm already pregnant, Merlin, what more can he do?"

"So it went well then? You're together?" he asked, putting down the chart, pulling off the paper and binning it. Gwen shook her head slightly, looking a tad uneasy at the scrutiny her housemate was putting her under.

"We're getting there," she answered truthfully, pushing away from the desk and heading towards the lounge.

"Just wait until you face the Dragon!" Merlin called down the corridor after her. She threw him a questioning look over her shoulder. All was not so easily resolved, but for a partnership that was already expecting a child, the longer the uncertain 'might happen' stage was dragged out, the harder it would be in the long run. And then there was Uther to contend with – that would probably be their biggest challenge.

* * *

Morgana handed the chart over to Merlin, studying Arthur as he worked with a patient by an open bed; "Isn't that the same tie as yesterday?" she asked, squinting in his direction.

"You know, I think it is," Merlin jibed, studying their boss closer, "Hang on a sec, isn't that my shirt?" he asked, his jaw dropping.

"No, Merlin, yours were too small. It's his shirt," Gwen interjected, appearing at the desk to drop off the in progress charts for the Doctor's to pick up on, "Always keeps a spare in his bag, apparently," she reasoned to herself that it was in case of emergencies at work but there was still the niggling feeling of it being for other situations not unlike the one that presented itself that morning.

"Successful date then," Morgana pried, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"He slept in Merlin's room. Which was empty, I might add," she remarked back looking between the two dark haired medics who went sheepishly quiet, "As I thought."

"We're not anything new, you are," Morgana reasoned, "Thus, you are far more interesting."

"Let it go, Morgana," Gwen pleaded, "Or I'll tell Arthur what really happened in the old drug lock-up," she looked between the pair of them purposefully. The colour drained from both the others face.

"Quite right, leave her alone Merlin, god!" Morgana chastised as she milled off towards the exam rooms and a woman with a foreign body stuck in her hand.

"You wouldn't?" Merlin dared, squinting at Gwen.

"Try me," she said playfully, taking a new chart from the ever back logging pile, "Lovely, pus and boils."

"Nice."

* * *

The great thing about being a nurse was no matter what situation you got yourself into your boss would always understand. It was practically in her job description to have an open mind so when push came to shove and Gwen had to inform her of certain duties she couldn't partake in any more it could have been more nerve racking.

Instead Marcia had smiled warmly, congratulated her and mentioned something about an 'Emergency Room Baby'.

Gwen left the nurse's office and continued back on her shift, a couple of charts in hand and kid with a broken arm to contend with.

"How're you feeling, Holly?" she asked, taking a seat next to the bed, cast kit in hand. The little blonde had already been set up in the hold, arm hanging in the air ready for Gwen to bandage.

"They gave me more medicine so it doesn't hurt any more," the small child said, a sad smile on her face.

"That's alright then," she smiled, looking to the girl's mother reassuringly as the lad looked distressed, "Once we're done I'll give you a script for the pharmacy for some more pain killers. But now, Holly, you have a choice to make. Pink or purple?"

The small child beamed at her; "Pink pink pink!"

"Pink it is."

* * *

Gwen smiled at Valerie, another nurse, as she passed her in the corridor, but there was a look in the woman's eye that confused Gwen. The looks had been coming for the last two weeks. It had been three weeks since her and Arthur had openly mentioned anything about being with each other, and a little more than that since he'd taken her out.

They'd spoken about what else they could tell people. They'd decided on waiting until after her next scan before they told any other the staff - other than Morgana and Merlin - that she was with child. It was already a strange enough situation without having to explain it to everybody.

She'd already had that conversation with herself; "He's only with you because of the baby." "He doesn't love you." "He loves the idea of you, but he'll never love you." She knew other people would say it too and she didn't want to hear it. She witnessed what he was like when it was just the pair of them. Even Merlin had commented on how he'd changed.

She spotted Arthur as he entered in his summer jacket from outside, a Costa coffee carrier in one hand and a paper bag in the other. She sped up her pace and trotted over towards him. He handed her the paper bag. She grinned looking in it, "Thank you," she produced the chocolate pastry from the bag and took a bite.

"And a hot chocolate with a shot of hazelnut," He handed her one of the larger cardboard cups. She took it from him taking a long swig before she sighed contently.

"Heaven in a cup."

"Anything to get through the graveyard shift."

"And how exactly did you manage to sway every shift this week with me?"

"Well, there has to be some perks to being in charge," Gwen rolled her eyes and cradled her hot chocolate in her hands, "Even if I wasn't working, I can still by my wonderful girlfriend presents, can I not?" he damn near smirked, loving the feeling of the words in his mouth. They sounded nearly as good as the first time he'd said them back a few weeks ago on a Wednesday when he'd thought 'hell to it' and called her it in front of the entire ER for the first time.

"I think I can accept that," she smirked, holding her take-out cup in one hand and reaching in front of her. She latched her fingers around his tie and pulled him towards her, closing the gap between them, pressing her lips firmly to his. He smiled against her lips before kissing her back.

"I could do you for indecent exposure," a voice sounded from the other side of the admit desk.

"Which is why," Arthur started, "I got you an Americano with an extra two shots, Leon," pointing to one of the Costa cups. The other doctor smiled and took it from the cardboard holder.

"Thank you," he toasted them with his coffee and sat in the office chair behind the desk, "Slooow night."

"It would be the case, yes," Arthur replied, leaning on the desk with one hand, and drinking his own coffee with the other.

"Well, unlike you two, I have work to do, drips to change and kids to check on," she placed her cup back on the desk and walked off, putting her hands into her scrub pockets.

"She's good with the kids," Leon commented, "They always seem to like her more than the rest of us."

"Yeah, she is, isn't she?" Arthur watched her leave, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. Leon observed him; Arthur didn't get like this about anybody. He was the proverbial bachelor who had the list as long as a piece of string of names of people he'd slept with over the years. But now? Now he was staring after the one girl Leon had never expected him to go for. Mainly because Morgana would kill him if he ever hurt her, but now they'd been together for little less then a month and it didn't show any signs of drying up.

"What aren't you telling me?"

"Hmm?" Arthur broke his gaze and looked at Leon, "Nothing."

"That's not your 'nothing' face, that's your 'I have a secret I'm not telling you' face."

"Well, if it's that face, I can't tell you; can I?" Leon laughed into the top of his cup.

"What has she done to you, Pendragon?" Arthur was still gazing after her, even though she had long since pulled the curtain round.

The corner of his mouth curled up blissfully, the look in his eye making Leon nauseous; "I dunno, but whatever it is, I kind of like it."

* * *

"You do know he doesn't cook, right?" Morgana asked as they stood in the queue in the corner shop, sandwiches in hand and a bag of crisps.

"Well apparently he's cooking."

"Be prepared," Morgana warned, handing over her money to the cashier and dumped her purchases into her handbag.

"You're lack of faith in him amazes me," Gwen admitted, adding a roll of gum to her items, fumbling with a five pound note as she waited.

"I've grown up with him for fifteen years. I know what he's like."

"And you work in the same place, why?"

"Because my step-father got me into the program at Albion and it was easier than running away?" She admitted as Gwen too finished up her purchase and they headed to the exit of the shop. "You work with Merlin, and you live together."

"Because we met at work and both needed somewhere to live!"

"What are you gunna do now? Are you moving in with Arthur?" Gwen shrugged.

"It's not really come up," she admitted, "Before you say it, I know we should talk about it. Where getting there, we're just taking it slowly."

"Bit late for slow, Gwen."

"So it's a bit of a messed up order, but we'll get there."

"Please, do. You make him human and bearable," Morgana teased, looking both ways before stepping out into the empty road. Over the last month Arthur had swiftly changed from hard pressed doctor, shouting off orders at every given opportunity, to a person who took other factors into account. It wasn't all about pushing charts and getting patients out of the department any more. It was a more pleasant affair for everybody.

"So Merlin keeps telling me."

* * *

Arthur stood leaning over the cook book, chewing on the end of the wooden spoon he'd bought earlier, along with all the other things he could possibly need scattered about in bags.

He read over the recipe again, and he couldn't see where he had gone wrong. He frowned at the page, willing it to highlight his mistake itself. He'd followed it to the letter. Whatever the hell a 'tsp' was anyway. So maybe leaving a few ingredients out here and there probably wasn't the best solution. Why couldn't they just write the damned things in English!

The buzzer sounded, "Shit," Gwen was here and he had nothing. He picked up the phone on the wall, holding it to his ear, "Heelllo?"

"Hi, it's me," Gwen relied over the intercom.

"Come on up." he pressed the unlock button, and another buzzer sounded signalling the opening of the front door on the building.

A couple of minutes later – after Arthur had put all the bags of cooking equipment hurriedly away in the cupboard - he opened his front door and left it on the latch.

When Gwen tentatively knocked on the wood, Arthur called out for her to 'come on in' and carried on glaring at the book before him.

"Hi," Gwen greeted, kicking her ballet pumps off by the door, hanging her jacket on the hook. She walked across the open plan flat, slipping her arms around his waist and looking at the book on the counter. She saw the discarded pots or concealed sauce, and a joint of no-longer-descript meat on the side that didn't actually smell that bad, but looked like the sort of thing you wouldn't want near your mouth. She smiled, slightly amused but trying to look as sympathetic as she could, "Not going to plan?"

"You may laugh, Guinevere," he said, hooking his arm around her and pulling her into his side, "But I've been at this for hours, and I don't know what I'm doing wrong. Mabe you can enlighten me to what the hell a tbsp is."

"That would be a tablespoon."

"Why don't they just write that then?"

"Because Delia, bless her, wants to confuse you."

"It's Gary actually," he stated, flipping the book shut to reveal the cover, 'Gar Rhoades Best of British'.

"Sorry, Gary," she smiled at him pityingly, not a natural chef, and by the looks of whatever it was left over, she didn't want to risk the lives of her and their child by touching it, "Thai or Chinese?" She asked, heading over to the wall and picking up the landline.

"Thai," he said defeated. He massaged the bridge of his nose, disappointed with himself.

"You tried, that's all that matters. Just admit defeat and never try and cook again," Gwen typed in the number of the delivery service, placing their order with an amused smile on her face. She thanked the man on the end of the line, she hung up and looked back over to Arthur.

She smiled sympathetically over at him, "You tried, that's the main thing."

"I give up. I'm useless," he looked pitiful.

"You're not useless," she stood in front of him, taking his hands in her own, "You're just not a natural chef."

"It's a good job I've got you to cook for me then, isn't it."

"And to call take away," she jested. His hands slipped out of hers and around her waist. She ran her hands up his arms, resting on to his biceps.

"And how's Blobby today?" she laughed, shaking her head at the nickname he had given their unborn child.

"He's fine."

"How do you know Blob's a he?"

"She, he, you don't like it when I call it, 'it'."

"Thus, named 'Blobby'."

"Arthur, that's cruel."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"How about 'The Baby'?"

"That's incredibly boring of you, you know," he said, pulling away from her and making his way over to the kitchen counter by the kettle and hitting the device on.

"It's still early days, Arthur; I don't want to name anything I can still lose."

"You're at thirteen weeks. They say you can start telling people, you know. The risk of miscarriage is less."

"But not gone," she reasoned, crossing the kitchen to the fridge and taking out the milk, "If people knew, and I lost it, I couldn't deal with the pitiful looks. I just, I want to be certain."

"Okay," he agreed, "Okay, one step at a time," he held up two mugs he'd grabbed from the cupboard, "Superman or Black?"

"I know you want to be the superhero," she said as he put them down on the side, she added two sugars to the blue, emblem emblazoned mug, and one to the other.

* * *

Leaving Arthur asleep, Gwen padded across the laminate of Arthur's apartment, she'd stolen one of his shirts to wear with a pair of pyjama bottoms she'd brought with her. She headed over to the kettle, mobile in hand.

She balanced the device between her ear and her shoulder as she reached into the cupboard for a pair of mugs.

"Hello?"

"Hi Dad," she chirped down the phone, placing the two mugs on the side.

"Hi darling, how are you?" he sounded pleased to hear from her. Over the last few weeks she'd accidentally ignored her father through lack of knowing what to say to him, but the time had come, she had to tell him.

"Yeah, I'm okay, how are you?"

"All the better for hearing from you darling. I was starting to worry."

"Sorry about that, Dad. I was wondering if you wanted to come over for dinner tomorrow. I've got some news for you."

"Sounds ominous."

"I'd just rather tell you in person, plus, I have somebody I want you to meet," she spooned sugar into the mugs, leaving the spoon in the second.

"This infamous boyfriend of yours Merlin mentioned when I phoned your flat the other day," Gwen cringed, he had to find out from Merlin of all people. She retrieved the milk from the fridge, leaving the carton on the side ready for the kettle to finish boiling.

"Yeah, Arthur."

"Okay sweetheart," she heard him sigh, not a particularly good sign, "when do you want me?"

"Come by the flat at like six tomorrow?" the kettle boiled and clicked off, steam protruding from the top, "And can you come with an open mind?"

"Now you're just trying to worry me," he half joked as she poured the boiling water into the two mugs.

"Sorry Dad."

"It's okay, now I'll just be making a massive log of possible hellish scenarios that could possibly be wrong."

"It's nothing bad," Gwen promised, hoping that he wouldn't see it that way. He'd always been one of those laid back kind of guys. Always told her when they'd watched programs on teen pregnancy and all of that sort, that he would always stand by her. She wasn't a teenager anymore. She was a grown woman with a respectable job. The situation could have been better but it could have been a whole lot worse. She had patients who were in worse situations, she really couldn't complain, "Don't worry too much, okay?"

"I'll try; see you tomorrow, pumpkin," Gwen drained the teabags, throwing them into the bin beneath the counter.

"See you tomorrow, Dad," she hung up, putting her mobile down on the side before she picked up the plastic milk carton and poured it. Abandoning the milk in the fridge door, Gwen picked up both cups of tea in one hand and headed back across the apartment to Arthur's bedroom.

She placed both cups down on one of the bedside tables, bending over to kiss Arthur on the forehead, "Wakey wakey," she laughed, sitting on the edge of the mattress.

Half awake, Arthur blinked looking confused to the presence beside him, "Mornin'," Gwen smiled down at him, reaching over to pick up his tea and offer it to him. He struggled to sit up, leaning against the headboard. He accepted the mug from her, blowing on the top of the liquid before taking a cautious sip, "Thanks."

"No worries," she picked up her own mug, the liquid far too hot for her to contemplate drinking yet but she looked down into the brown drink, "I called my Dad."

Arthur's hand stopped, lifting his cup to his mouth. She looked at her over the rim, eyes wide and full of worry.

"Should I be running?"

"I didn't tell him, just invited him to mine for dinner tomorrow."

"To tell him?"

"Yeah," she fiddled with the handle of her mug, "You said yesterday about telling people, and well, he's my Dad. I want him to know before I tell anybody else."

"So he doesn't hear it on the grapevine?"

"Yeah. I mean, Merlin already told him about you."

"He did what?"

"Wasn't his fault, he didn't know I hadn't mentioned it, yet. Dad will be okay with it, I promise. A bit shocked maybe, but he said he would always support me no matter what, because he's my father and he loves me and all that."

"Wish mine shared the sentiment."

"Are you going to tell him?" All the colour drained from Arthur's face. The elder Pendragon didn't even know of Gwen's existence more than her being Morgana's friend. As much as Uther had been forced into accepting that Morgana was dating a male nurse, Arthur didn't think he would be half as accepting of Gwen; especially given the situation.

"Hadn't planned on it," he admitted, knowing full well it was a foolish plan, and turning up one Christmas with a family in tow was probably not the best way to go.

"Arthur, you can't not tell him. It's not fair."

"I was gunna send him an invite to Blobby's eighteenth and be done with," he grinned, taking a long swig of his tea.

"I think he may notice he has a grandchild running around," she laughed, copying his movement.

"I'll tell him, just got to handle with care."


	5. Let It All Out

**Part Four**

Gwen didn't wait around for Arthur at the end of her shift; instead she headed into the nearest Tesco express to pick up the groceries for dinner. She'd already ordered Merlin out of the flat until gone ten so she could break the news to her father without the other nurse doing it for her.

She loved Merlin dearly, she did, but there were some skills he didn't possess.

Once she'd bought the groceries she required, she headed back to the hospital in time for Arthur to finish; "Ready to go?" she asked resting the shopping bags on the desk. She leant over it to see what case he'd had; little old lady had fallen and broken her arm. _Poor woman._

"Let me just sign off on this," he did so, passing the chart back to one of the less senior doctors who took it without debate, "And we're good to go," he picked up the shopping bag that Gwen had left in one hand, picking up his bag and jacket in the other.

"I can carry that," Gwen said, reaching for the Tesco bag only to have Arthur whip it out of her grasp.

"What sort of guy would I be if I made my pregnant girlfriend carry the shopping?" He stopped for a second, putting all the bags down on the floor to pull his jacket on over the scrub top he'd acquired over the shift.

"It's not that heavy," she reasoned as the automatic doors of the hospital closed behind them. She made to pick the bag up again but Arthur got there first, "Ready for this?"

"No. You?"

"No," Arthur swung his work bag onto his back, freeing up his hand to take Gwen's, interlocking her fingers with his as they walked towards the tube station. The grip he had serving to give some reassurance that he would make it through the night alive and in one piece.

* * *

"Hi, Mr Leodegrance? Come on in," Gwen heard Arthur greet as she continued to prepare dinner. The vegetables were ready, the lamb she'd had in the freezer was cooked to near perfection and to top it all off she'd gotten her father's favourite wine to butter him up.

"Please call me Tom, Arthur."

"Tom, it's nice to meet you," he held out his hand to shake Tom's, the older man accepting the gesture with a welcoming hand.

"You too, Arthur," _So far so good,_ Gwen thought to herself lifting the lid on the boiling vegetable pan to stop it from boiling over.

"Gwen's in the kitchen," Arthur offered as he lead Tom down the hallway into the small kitchen, "I'll go set the table," he said, grabbing three lots of cutlery from the draw and disappearing into the lounge come dinning room.

"He seems nice," Tom said as he pulled Gwen into a hug. She abandoned the cooking for a second to indulge him. It had been too long since she'd seen him and doing so now made her realise how much she missed him. He didn't live to far away, but with her schedule and everything that had been going on recently she'd not found the time to set aside to see him.

"He's more than nice, Dad," Gwen laughed, squeezing her father as the alarm beeped on the oven, "Oh, just in time. I'll just dish up, if you want to go and sit at the table?"

"Okay, pumpkin," he kissed the top of her head and released her, leaving her with three hot plates and a lamb roast to serve.

* * *

"This smells fantastic, sweetheart," Tom applauded as Gwen put his plate down in front of him, "Really amazing."

"Looks good too," Arthur said, bringing in his own plate from the kitchen and sitting at the table. He flashed Gwen a look, smirking slightly. Gwen rolled her eyes and sat herself opposite Arthur, her Dad facing them both from the other side.

"Well then I hope it tastes as good."

"You know," Tom said as he started to cut into his lamb and paiing it with some vegetables, "I have no idea where she gets her culinary skills from," he admitted, tasting the cuisine and hummed satisfactorily, "Certainly doesn't get it from me."

"I'm a complete disaster in the kitchen," Arthur added, running a potato around in his gravy with a smile in Gwen's direction.

"He asked me was a tsp was," Gwen said, assuming the answer obvious.

Tom looked at her with mock confusion, "A tsp?" he laughed, "Oh dear," he looked at Arthur, mirth in his eyes and laughed again.

Arthur felt at ease as he happily stuffed himself with the meal Gwen had slaved over, "It's not something that comes naturally."

"What else are women for, eh?" Tom jested, "Cooking and birthing children," Gwen choked on the piece of meat she had just put in her mouth. She coughed slightly, chewed and swallowed as she picked up her glass of water and drink some, "You alright, darling?"

"Yeah, fine. Just went down the wrong way."

"That's what you get when you try and breathe and eat at the same time," Arthur teased. To his surprise Tom also snorted a laugh at his daughter's expense.

"At least I know what a tsp is," she said shaking her head at the both of them, unable to keep an amused smile off her face now she'd stopped her eyes from watering.

* * *

Tom finished his meal, leaving his cutlery paired together on his plate, "That was lovely, sweetheart," he commented, drinking the remains of his wine, "Not drinking, Gwen?" he asked, only just noticing her lack of wine glass.

"No," she admitted, finishing her meal as Arthur too put his cutlery down. She caught his eye and he nodded, it was now or never, "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Not drinking?"

"Why I'm not drinking tonight, or any other night until about Christmas," she confessed. Tom narrowed his eyes are her, looking between the pair of them and back to his daughter, "I'm pregnant."

"You're-? I'm going to be a grandparent?" He smiled. Arthur visibly relaxed.

"You're not mad?"

"Gwen, darling, I've never seen you smile the way he makes you smile," he paused, his brow furrowing slightly as he looked between them again, "How long did you say you'd been together for?"

"I didn't," Gwen replied, looking to Arthur for help.

"We've only been _romantically_ involved for five weeks, but I have known her through my sister for ten years. I've been in love with your daughter for a day less than that," Gwen bit her lip, feeling the heat go to her cheeks.

"And you're how many weeks pregnant?"

"Thirteen weeks," Gwen said bleakly, looking into her drink.

"But it _is_ your child?" Tom asked Arthur, looking confused more than angry.

"Yes Dad. It's all a bit messed up, but it's worked out."

"Okay," he said considering it for a second, "Okay. I told you I would always support your decisions and now that's being tested I'm going to stick by it. You're happy, who am I to question it."

* * *

Arthur cleared away the plates after dinner, leaving Tom with her daughter. The older male moved his chair around the table to sit next her, pulling Gwen in for a hug.

"You're sure you're okay with this?" Gwen asked him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"It's not an ideal situation, but it's not the worst it could be," he ran his hand up her arm, pulling her in as close as he could comfortably within the confines of the chair, "You know, pregnant was one of my scenarios. It was the only one that didn't have me panicked into an early grave."

"Well then, I'm glad," she smiled, taking her head from his shoulder and shifting her chair so she could hug him properly.

"I always knew there was something about that man of yours. Whenever I picked you up from Morgana's I could see him watching you. I always assumed it was because he fancied you," Gwen laughed, "I guess your old dad was right."

"I guess so," she chortled. She felt eyes on the back of her head. Knowing Arthur would be stood in the doorway watching them, "Let's see what's on TV," she suggested, freed her father from her grasp and stood. Arthur approaching the sofa drying his hands on the tea towel which he folded and placed on the coffee table.

He sat on the armchair leaving Gwen and her father to the sofa. Tom looked at him and ushered him up, "You can sit next to her, you know. I won't assume you're trying to bustle her away from me. And I won't kill you for touching her."

Arthur stood, not wanting to anger Tom in anyway, still expecting the storm that his own father would kick up.

* * *

"That wasn't completely painful," Arthur admitted having shut the door behind Tom.

"It could have been a lot worse," Gwen admitted, leaning into her boyfriend's gentle embraced.

"I was so worried he would string me up and leave me to bleed out," Arthur admitted, feeling Gwen's amused breath through the thin material of his shirt.

"He's not that scary," Arthur pressed a kiss to Gwen's forehead. She smiled wearily, tired from the day.

"No," he grinned gratefully, "Now to face the dragon."

"Mmhmm," she yawned, "Sleep first perhaps," Gwen suggested closing her eyes, gradually falling asleep on her feet.

Arthur took her hand, leading her towards her bedroom, "Then sleep we shall."

* * *

Gwen stood in front of the full length mirror that Arthur had in his state of the art bathroom. Profile, she lifting her shirt, resting it just below her bust, and looked.

There was a definite bulge starting to form.

Arthur was on the early shift, leaving her with a set of keys and an alarm code to set up before she left for work.

She ran her hand over the smooth skin of her stomach and lowered her shirt again. It wouldn't be long before people started to notice. Some people, like Valerie were already giving her strange looks.

One old woman had taken her hand the day before and told her some cryptic gypsy message about moons and stars and the future revolving around love of a being yet to be. It had all been very strange but she had taken it in her stride, smiled at the kooky old lady and carried on.

Weirder still was the looks that Leon kept giving her. Like he knew something she didn't. Of course, it was the other way around and thinking otherwise was bizarre and preposterous but there was something in the looks that that her he knew something was up.

Of all the staff - not including Merlin and Morgana - Leon was the next person she would trust with their news, not to spread it to every nurse and ward staff.

A knock at the door stirred Gwen from her modelling. She left the bathroom, shutting the door before her and opening the door.

"Hi," Morgana greeting, pushing through into the main area, Merlin following quickly behind her, "Terry on the door let us in. Lovely man."

"Good old Terry," Merlin inputted, slumping down onto Arthur's sofa.

"Hi?"

"Don't mind us, just came to see you in your time of need and wondered if you wanted to go out for lunch," Merlin offered his childlike grin spreading across his face.

"Aren't you meant to be working?" Gwen asked, looking questioning between them, "Your breaks don't coincide."

"No, but Arth-"

"Arthur rearranged the schedule and for once in a blue moon here we are," Morgana interrupted, shooting Merlin a warning look. So Arthur might be a little over protective and not wanting to leave Gwen on her own, it didn't mean Gwen had to know it.

"Right," Gwen replied sceptically, "I'll just go and finish getting dressed. Help yourselves." Gwen left them in the main room.

"He's right," she heard Merlin say; "She's getting puffy."

"Merlin!" Gwen heard a slight thud and an 'oof', she could practically here Morgana's glare, "That's not what he said. He said showing. Not puffy."

"Well it's true, she is kinda puffy."

Gwen laughed to herself shaking her head as she pulled on a new shirt and a clean pair of trousers she could later wear to work.

* * *

Merlin stumbled over his own feet as he tried to dodge Arthur's expensive coffee table as he lugged a box of Gwen's belongings towards the master bedroom.

"Merlin, be careful will you."

"I'm not going to harm your precious coffee table."

"I was thinking more your cracked head on the laminate leaving blood stains," he admitted casually, hauling a box of kitchen supplies onto the counter.

"Why do the girls get away with not doing this?" Merlin asked, abandoning the box by the bedroom door before he did himself any more damage.

"Because they're at work and heavy lifting-"

"If you say 'isn't good for the baby' I'll report back to Gwen and she can hit you _for_ me!" Arthur looked guiltily away and dodged any further scrutiny by running back out for more boxes. Merlin shook his head and walked after him, "Just because she's succumbed to your begging doesn't mean she's an invalid!" he shouted down the corridor after the blonde, Arthur ignored him much to Merlin's amusement, "And they say love is blind. More like bloody stupid."

* * *

Curled into Arthur's chest, Gwen was cocooned in their duvet, head resting above his heart gently tapping out his heartbeat absentmindedly over the covers, "Do you want to know?" she asked.

"Know what?" he said tracing patterns on her arm. This could be how he finished every day, depending on shifts, and there wasn't anything about it that he would change.

"The babies' gender."

"No. I dunno. Do you?"

"I think it would be a nice surprise," she said sleepily, cuddling into her 'pillow'.

"Double the amount of thinking for names though."

"Lazy," Gwen scoffed; she hit him gently interrupting the rhythm she'd been playing out.

"I'm in charge of an Emergency Department, you-"

"Are a nurse in that department and do way more work than you," she shifted slightly, looking up at him. She smiled playfully accepting the kiss that Arthur sent her way. He ran his fingers through her loose hair, tucking it behind her ear and resting his hand in her curls. His other hand stopped tracing patterns and held her close to him, he moved his hand beneath the covers, under her shirt and resting it on her waist, "You hands are cold," she mumbled against his lips.

"Sorry, doctor's curse."

* * *

In a waiting room full of expecting parents, it's easy to feel alone when you are sat on your own watching everybody else be a couple. A gentle hubbub of excitement passing through most along with nerves and a little bit of cold feet.

There were no magazines due to the swine flu epidemic so Gwen had taken to counting the ceiling tiles over and over. There was a hundred and sixty four that she could see, dozens more that she couldn't.

The doors opened and she spotted Arthur coming towards her looking a little worse for wear in what looked like a fresh set of green scrubs over his t-shirt.

"Sorry I'm late."

"Merlin said something about multiple GSWs between grabbing supplies and running back into the room. I thought it best to let you carry on," she admitted, greeting him with a kiss as he sat in the seat she had saved him next to her.

"It got pretty messy but they're going to be okay," he reported, taking a hold of her hand, "What time is the appointment again?"

"Twenty minutes ago."

"Ah."

"Christina," Arthur's eyes narrowed at her in confusion, "The lady behind the desk, said they're running about half an hour late."

"Always the way. It's so agitating being a patient in this place."

"You're not the patient. You're just _im_patient."

"Ha. Ha," he sat tapping his foot. Gwen looked pointedly at him, "Sorry," he stopped. A second later he started bouncing his knee.

"Arthur, just relax, okay."

"I just, I'm nervous."

"The great Arthur Pendragon admitting to nerves? Oh wait a second, yeah; a pig just flew past the window. And news reports just in; Hell has frozen over," Gwen laughed.

"Guinevere Leodegrance?" A nurse called holding her chart in her hand, "Gwen?"

"Rachel, Hi," the only nurse who had defected from the Emergency Room. Of course pretty much all the staff would know Arthur, especially in scrubs, but not many of the nurses in other departments knew Gwen, but now, now it was sure to spread like wildfire that the Head of the Emergency Department and his girlfriend were expecting a child. Professionalism went out of the window when it was about people you worked with, "Arthur, Rachel. Rachel, Arthur. She worked in emergency a couple of years back."

"I remember," he smiled, shaking the hand that the nurse offered, the look on his face unreadable to whether he was lying or not, "Nice to see you again."

"You too. Ready?" They followed her into the exam room, "The doctor will be with you shortly."

"Okay, thank you," Gwen smiled. She sat up on the bed, leg dangling over the side, "You don't need to look so nervous."

"It's just bewildering," he admitted. Gwen held out her hand to him, clutching onto his fingers.

"It's weird, but at the same time, kind of beautiful."

"How could any part of you not be?" He said seriously before both of them laughed. He touched his lips to hers briefly. The butterflies in his stomach still battled at full force.

"Good afternoon," Doreen chimed as she came in, smiling broadly at the pair of them, "Dr Pendragon, nice to see you. Gwen."

"Nice to meet you," Arthur held out his hand to shake the other doctor's. She openly accepted it taking his bigger hand with a firm grip.

"You too. If you want to lay back, Gwen, and lift your shirt," she smiled warmly, watching Gwen scoot up the bed, laying back. She lifted the bottom of her t-shirt revealing her ever-growing baby bump, "Okay there's going to be a cool sensation from the gel, as before."

The machine burst into life, whooshing sounds filled the room followed by a constant beat, "That's your babies' heart beat," Doreen stated, "Head, two arms, two legs," she rattled off some more information, taking some protocol measurements of the baby to make sure everything was in check.

Gwen took her eyes from the screen to look up at Arthur who had become quiet, seated next to her. She reached over the side of the bed, taking one of his hands from his lap and giving it a gentle squeeze. His eyes were fixed on the screen, watching every movement the doctor made. A content smile on his face.

"Would you like to know the sex?"

Gwen looked at Arthur for a nod of reassurance before she answered; "We want to keep it as a surprise."

"Okay," the doctor smiled. She tapped a few more buttons and reached down beside the ultrasound machine, "here."

She passed Arthur the print out. All he could manage was a dazed smile, looking at the photo in his hands, "Thank you," Gwen said for him, accepting the tissue the female doctor passed her, "Thanks," she wiped the gel from her stomach, replacing her shirt, "You okay, Arthur?"

"What?" he looked up from the photo, "Yeah, I'm fine. She's, he's, not so blobby anymore."

"Guess not, huh?" Gwen pushed herself off of the bed, "She/he is sucking their thumb, look," she pointed at the image. Arthur squinted and smiled.

"Yeah," he kissed Gwen on the forehead, putting his arm around her waist, "Thank you, Doctor?"

"Doreen, Doreen Winters."

"Thank you, Doreen."

"Just doing my job. You're okay for booking your next appointments?"

"Yes, thank you," Gwen smiled, "Rachel won't tell anyone we were here, will she?"

"Rachel won't no. But from word on the grapevine, she wouldn't need to. Might want to nip it in the bud before people completely over do the story," Doreen offered with a smile, "Now scram, I've got patients to see and time to make up."

"Thank you."

* * *

"So how do you suppose we tell them then?"

"Give Merlin a megaphone and set him up a stand? I don't know," Gwen shrugged. The music in the lift was starting to get annoying; they only had four floors to go.

"I just don't want to keep repeating myself."

"Me either."

They stood in silence until the doors pinged open, "Got it."

He reached into his pocket, bringing out the sonogram picture, heading directly to the reception desk. He pulled open one of the desk draws searching through the miscellaneous stationary.

"What are you looking for?" Merlin asked, adding a completed chart to the pile and looking down at Arthur.

"Blu tack."

"Bottom draw, right hand side," Merlin answered. Arthur followed his instructions and was soon pulling off a generous piece of the tack.

"Arthur?" Gwen caught up with him, holding her jacket in front of her not being on shift to have baggy scrubs to hide behind.

Arthur stood; he attached the blob of blu tack to the back of the sonogram and placed it on the patient whiteboard on the wall behind the desk. He picked up one of the pens, uncapped it and started to scribble a caption beneath it. Once done, he replaced the cap and abandoned the pen with the others.

"There. Costa?" he asked Gwen. He stood between her and his masterpiece. She frowned and leant sideways to see what he'd done. Beneath the picture read 'Baby Leodegrance-Pendragon. Aged 16 Weeks.' She couldn't help but smile. She shook her head, holding her jacket to her side.

"Costa," she agreed. He took her head as they headed for the exit, missing the mixture of emotions that passed over various people's faces. Merlin was amused and carried on with his work. Leon looked unsurprised and smiled off the news. Other's heralded a mixture of shocked, pleased and a couple of the more traditionalist staff amounts them, mixed glares and disapproval.


	6. Pump to the Beat

**Part Five**

The shift was busy, enough so to keep one occupied but not enough that the nurses wore themselves into the ground and the doctors didn't accidentally kill patients. "Blobby looks like a boy," Arthur said having found the time to study the picture as he stood behind the reception.

"I thought he looked like a she actually," Merlin commented spinning around in the office chair having been admitting new comers and sending them down to the waiting area. The queue had finally stopped after a steady flow and it looked as if it was finally going to head.

"He does not."

"I was going to say girl," Morgana said as she passed dropping off one chart and taking the next without checking the ailment. She walked over to the waiting room, "Alexa Dury?" she called, a small woman with a baby looking up and standing, "What's the problem, Mam?"

"I think she has a temperature, and she's not sleeping well," the worried mother said as Morgana lead her towards a curtain to continue her examination.

"Do you ever think about what if your kid gets the slightest cough you and Gwen would like freak out?"

"Merlin, we're professionals in the medical career, I think we could tell when it was serious," Arthur replied, moving away from the whiteboard. He raised an eyebrow at Merlin who shrugged at him.

"It's always different when it's your kid though, isn't it?"

"Is there something you and Morgana aren't telling us?" Arthur asked with an amused smirk on his face.

"No. I'm just saying."

"Well go just say whilst doing some work, looks like Morgana might need you," Arthur shoved Merlin up out of the seat, forcing the nurse away from the reception desk.

The radio crackled to life, "Car crash involving two vehicles at high speeds, we've got two critical and a minor, can you take them?"

Arthur picked up the microphone, clicking the live button, "Albion Hospital, we can take all patients," he confirmed.

"We are four minutes out."

Arthur leapt into action, heading down the wide hospital corridor down towards the trauma rooms. He quickly counted out four trauma gowns, before he started calling out for the others, "Leon! Grab William and Percy. We've got a double trauma on the way in," He handed him three of the gowns and prepared himself with the other. Merlin emerged from the curtain with Morgana. They left the woman with the baby, swabs in hand to send to the lab.

"They should be back within the hour. I'm sorry for the wait; they'll be as fast as they can," Morgana assured the worried mother.

"Morgana, set up for trauma, we're going to need you in there."

"Okay, I'll find Val and Sophia. Where's Gwen?"

"Break room," Arthur replied, heading out into the ambulance bay. Morgana poked her head into the Doctor's Lounge as she went on her way to find the other nurses.

"Trauma rolling in, we're going to need you, hun."

Gwen abandoned her stale coffee and put down the magazine she'd been reading that was six months out of date, "On my way."

* * *

"Head on collision, two cars. A driver and a passenger in critical condition, other driver is shaky with a head contusion and minor concussion, other wise fine."

"Okay, Morgana, Leon; take the driver. William with me and the passenger. Percy can you take the other driver," Arthur reeled off. The ambulance crew started listing vitals and injuries to both parties as they hurriedly made their way through the hospital into the traumas rooms.

Sophia and Valerie had split themselves between the two trauma rooms, Merlin and Gwen at the gurney sides.

"On my count. One. Two. Three." The doctor's hefted the passenger onto the trauma bed, the gurney discarded to the side whilst they worked.

"We're going to need an airway," Arthur ordered, checking the patient's pupil responses. William collected the tube from the store, ripping it from the package and readying himself to insert the tube into the airway.

He prised the metal open, placing it in the male's mouth, one end on the tongue whilst he guided the tube through the chords and into the airway, "I'm in," he said. Gwen attached the bag to the end of it and started to pump.

* * *

They worked on the passenger for twenty minutes, internal bleeding found, a collapsed lung and a chest tube later and they were still no where near close enough to saving them.

The machine beeped, "Get the crash cart!" Arthur called, "Start compressions."

The bag had since been passed to Sophia. Gwen sorting tubes and injections and now stepping up on the side of the table to start CPR. Push. Push. Push. Push.

"Charging 200," William announced rubbing the components together as another nurse placed the gels on the patients chest, "Clear!"

Gwen stepped off of the frame of the bed and stepped back with everybody else. The shock went through the man's body, jolting it, but no rhythm. Gwen stepped back up to the body and starting compressions again.

The repeated the process a number of times increasing the charge with no prevail. Sophia turned to Gwen, "Swap out," she said. Gwen frowned.

"I'm fine. Keep going."

"Swap out," Sophia repeated. Gwen looked to Arthur who nodded, "Okay go." They swapped positions, Sophia gradually taking over compressions. The other nurse had taken the bag leaving Gwen standing, "You shouldn't be doing compressions in your condition."

Gwen couldn't help her jaw from dropping. She bit back the need to fight her corner and looked around, "If I'm no longer needed I'll go and deal with patients I can deal with in my condition," she left, shedding herself of gloves and trauma scrub and depositing it in the bin on her way out.

"Charging 360," William said again, looking over to the door before continuing with his work, "Clear!" he shocked the man again after Sophia had stepped back. No good.

"Call it," Arthur ordered.

"Time of death, twnety twenty seven. Is she okay?" William asked setting the paddles back on the cart. Arthur shrugged, tugging his yellow scrub from his chest and following Gwen's lead.

He found her in the lounge as he'd assumed he would. She wouldn't go onto the department floor in a bad mood, she'd defuse first. Stop the explosion from happening at a time that she deemed inappropriate.

"Gwen?" he broached tentatively.

"Fat lot of good you were," she snapped throwing her mobile back into her locker and slamming the metal door shut.

"What did I do?"

"Fuck all! That's the point! I might be pregnant, Arthur, but I'm not a fucking invalid!"

"Sophia was just looking out for you."

"By not letting me do my job?" she shouted shrilly, "I might as well not be here at all if I can't do that. As far as I was aware I don't have to stop working for at least another three months at most. So tell me why I'm so fucking incapable now!"

"She didn't say-"

"But it's what she meant. I'm not so porcelain doll that needs wrapping in cotton wool, Arthur!"

"I know. I'm sorry," he stepped forwards, instinctively reaching out a hand to hug her.

"Touch me, and _you'll_ be the invalid."

He raised both hands away from her, taking a step back, "Okay, Gwen, I'm sorry. They're just looking out for you."

"I don't need people looking out for me, Arthur, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself! I don't need a knight in shining armour!" she pushed past him, storming out of the door and back onto the floor. Her anger vented into Arthur for the most part.

Dazed, Arthur left the break room heading back into the other trauma room to check on the driver.

"Morgana, report?"

"Tubed, chest tube, re-inflated lung. And," she kicked off the brake, "Off to surgery."

"Good. Can I talk to you?" Merlin took one look at Arthur and followed on with the gurney knowing the look on his face.

"Sure," she ridden herself of the blood covered gloves and trauma scrubs, throwing them into the bio bin and heading out, "I saw the other guy didn't make it."

"Too much internal bleeding compressing everything else. He bled out faster than we could put it in him."

"And Gwen? Where did she go?"

"Off on one, apparently," he cringed, scratching the back of his head.

"Arthur?" he opened a door to an empty exam room and shut it behind the pair of them, "What's wrong?" Morgana's brow knitted, studying her step-brother's face.

"Can you talk to her?" He asked, fearing that he would only piss Gwen off more by trying to talk to her at present.

"About what?"

"Sophia made her swap out of compressions and implied that she didn't think Gwen should be doing compressions, and Gwen took it pretty heavy. Thinks that I think she incapable."

"Did you tell her otherwise?" her forehead creased, raising her eyebrows at him in question of his actions.

"I tried!" he said pathetically, voice going higher than natural.

"Not hard enough, Arthur," Morgana soothed, through her amused smile, "I'll talk to her, but if she throws things at you tonight you bought it on yourself."

"Okay, thank you, Morgana," he smiled at her, giving her a quick hug. She patted him on the back patronisingly.

"What else are sister's for, if not sorting out your mistakes?" Morgana chimed, smiling at her step-brother sympathetically.

"It wasn't my fault!" he folded his arms defensively, a pout on his face.

"It's your fault she's pregnant, therefore any repercussions of that are automatically your fault too. Deal with it Daddio, you've got eighteen years of problems being pinned on you and there is no way out of it," she patted his folded arms and left him to go and find Gwen.

Eighteen years of this? God he hoped Blobby was a boy. He'd need the extra support.

* * *

Morgana found Gwen sat on a bench in the Ambulance bay. She watched her for a moment, she had her arms wrapped protectively over her stomach and was seemingly talking to herself. On closer inspection Gwen was chatting away to the life growing inside her; "He's just a massive prat who needs everything explained to him in plain English for him to understand it. Uncle Merlin calls it 'Pratish'. Though I wouldn't repeat that around me or your Daddy. Say it to Uncle Merlin, maybe Aunty Morgana, they'll find it funny."

"I would," Gwen looked up at her; she still looked annoyed but allowed Morgana to take a seat next to her, "What did his pratness do?"

Gwen sighed, "Nothing. He just," she let out a frustrated groan and mimed strangling the air in front of her. Morgana laughed, "I'm fed up of people treating me differently because of the baby."

"People are just trying to be nice," Morgana stated, knowing it wouldn't be what Gwen wanted to hear.

"I wish they wouldn't!" Gwen admitted, shifting on the bench to face Morgana, "I can still do my job, if I couldn't the doctors would tell me so; so far they haven't."

"Arthur's worried about you. Thinks that you're mad at him."

"I am."

"No you're not," Morgana smiled pulling her best friend into an awkward hug, "You love him. He loves you. He's supposed to piss you off occasionally."

"I'm not an invalid; I don't need people mollycoddling me," she said into her friend's ear, arms tightly around her friend.

"He just worries about you, hun. He's still adjusting."

"It's been two months."

"Eight weeks. Two months, it's not that long. Besides; he's a guy, he'll be adjusting until 'Blobby' graduates from university, then he'll need to adjust to the fact that 'Blobby' doesn't need him anymore," Gwen laughed at her friend's disgusted tone at Arthur preposterous nickname, "That's more like it. You're just hormonal."

"It's a crap excuse," She leant back against the bench wood, heaving a sigh.

"But if you use it to Arthur he can't complain. Wield your attributes, lies or not," Morgana ordered, "Now go give him a cuddle before he goes plutonic and starts giving me all the gross things. Okay?"

"Okay," Gwen agreed. They stood together heading back into the building, "Can't I let him stew for a bit?"

"Oh of course, in fact I demand it. But only for a bit. I don't want the gross things."

* * *

In a lull in the amount of patients admitted to the department, Arthur stood with his phone in his hand looking at his father's number. He tapped the top of his pen on the reception desk thumb hovering over the call button.

"You know you actually have to press buttons to make it work," Gwen suggested, a small smile on her face. Her shift was over for the day and she'd left Arthur stewing all day. He put the phone down again and put his hands into the pockets of his white doctor's coat, "I'm sorry I snapped."

"It's okay. I should have said something to Sophia in there-"

"Arthur, don't worry about it okay," she reached her hand out and rested it on his arm. He took his hand out of his pocket, moving his hand so he could trace the backs his fingers over her knuckles. She twisted her hand and interlocked her digits with his.

"I just don't like arguing with you."

"You didn't do anything wrong. It's just, at the end of the day, this is my job. If I don't have this, I don't have much."

"You have me."

"And I have the baby, but I don't want that to be the only thing that defines me as a person. I love you, but I just need something right now that I can work for. More than a personal level. I'm nothing special, I'm a nurse, I just want to do my bit to help other people and I can't do that if people stop me."

Slowly he nodded, "I'll talk to them."

"Just because I'm 'puffy' doesn't mean I can't do my job."

"I never said puffy."

"Yes you did," Merlin interjected, filing away a chart and sitting down behind the desk, "I distinctly remember puffy leaving your lips."

"Thanks, Merlin. You're a gem."

"Have you actually pressed call yet, or are you still staring at it?" Merlin asked him, having seen his friend stood staring at the device fifteen minutes before.

"Who are you calling anyway?" Gwen asked him. She had a feeling who it would be. Arthur wasn't a person who suffered from confidence issues. At least not often.

Merlin formed his hands into faux claws in front of his chests and growled. Gwen raied an eyebrow at him, slowly shaking her head trying to figure him out. He moved his hand to flap beside his shoulders; "The Dragon!"

"Now?" Gwen looked from her scruffy haired friend to Arthur.

"I was gunna get him to come over, or, you know, arrange a meeting," Arthur said, trying to keep it light hearted and failing.

"Bit formal isn't it?" Gwen stated, amused at the thought of needing to book himself in to see a man who was otherwise absent in his life.

"Yeah, but this is my father, all work, no play."

"Make the Dragon a dull boy…"

"Yes, thank you, Merlin," he pressed the green call button. He held the phone to his ear and waited for it to start ringing.

"I don't know what the big deal is," Merlin continued loudly. The call was directed to voicemail straight away, Uther on another call. The message played out, the tone beeping, "All you've got to do is point him in the direction of the board."

"Hi Dad, it's Arthur. Just wanted to-"

"Et volia, 'Hey Dad, my girlfriend is pregnant.'" Gwen's jaw dropped; her eyes wide in shock. Arthur stopped in his tracks, silent; he hung up quickly. Merlin looked between them, "What?"

"We have to intercept that message. Now."

The lift doors opened, the Assistant Head of Medicine and Chief of Staff, Gaius Castle, and Dr Pendragon Senior exited. Uther hanging up on whomever he had been speaking to before. He tapped a few more buttons and held the device back to his ear, frowning at the pre-message drivel the phone company provided.

"Oh fuck," the expletive escaped the young trio's lips. Gwen looked up at Arthur the blonde's eyes fixed on his father.

"Go," he ordered, "Find a chart, refill something, do anything. I'll deal with this," Gwen didn't need telling twice and she ran, grabbing the nearest chart and headed to the exam room down the hall.

'Hi Dad, it's Arthur,' Uther spotted his son and hung up, "Arthur? You called?" he looked at his son, knowing the lad wouldn't waste his time with a trivial thing. He watched as his son did the perfect impression of a goldfish and Morgana's boyfriend slipped away sheepishly. Gaius watched the boy leave, a question in his eyes. He'd known his family for a long time and he knew when he was acting shiftily.

Uther noticed a new sign on the whiteboard behind where the male nurse had been sitting, blocking it from his view originally. He read the caption that he could see before he focused on the picture he recognised as a sonogram image.

Arthur followed his father's gaze over his shoulder and cringed, his eyes shutting fearing the oncoming storm.

"Arthur?"

Gaius raised an eyebrow at the notice, "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Arthur said weakly, looking at his hands. Gaius bowed his head and moved away, leaving the grandparent with the father, "I was going to tell you."

"Tell me what exactly, Arthur? I wasn't aware you were seeing anyone," the elder man said sternly, his jaw clenched. He leant his fisted hands onto the desk.

"You've met her, she's a nurse here, Guinevere."

"Morgana's little school friend?" Uther asked. Arthur nodded looking his father in the eye. He looked away again, spotting Gwen out of the corner of his vision.

"Are you okay?" she mouthed as she wrapped a bandage around the patient's wrist. The slight nod of the head Arthur sent in her direction didn't go unnoticed by Uther whose head snapped around to glare at the recipient. Gwen held the man's gaze for a second until she purposefully blinked and she looked back to her work.

His eyes trailed to her midriff. Even under the baggy scrub top she was wearing he could see it, "And when exactly were you planning on telling me?" Uther asked, turning his attention back to his son with an expectant look on his face.

Arthur held up his phone lamely, "That's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Judging by the looks of her that sonogram is fairing on recent. It's taken you how long to tell me?" his voice was verging on too loud now, patients and staff alike were starting to stare.

"Can we not do this here?" Arthur pleaded, for his own good and the people surrounding him. If it turned ugly they didn't need to see this.

"I think now is a good a time as any, Arthur."

"It's not always about what you think," his son retorted, pocketing his mobile. He reached into the pile of started charts, picked up a selection and walked off. He was better than that, "This is your fault," he muttered to Merlin as his passed him.

"Mine?" he exclaimed, "You're the one who didn't tell him."

"Shut up Merlin."


	7. Understand This

**Part Six**

"This is preposterous," Uther stated sat at his desk wildly flailing his arms around in front of him. Gaius stood by the door looking over to the elder Pendragon, "Arthur should have told me. He's let everybody down. He has embarrassed himself, what sort of secret is that to keep from your family?"

"Perhaps he was looking out for _his_ family," Gaius reasoned, they had been discussing this for the best part of two hours. Gaius couldn't see if he was even getting anywhere with him, reason had never been much of a strong point of Uther, "I'm sure he was planning on telling you by more appropriate means."

"And telling everybody else before his own father? Does he not think that I could be of some assistance?"

"You may mean well, Uther, but you don't make yourself the most accessible to him. You need to open up to him. You need to let him know that it's okay to make mistakes. That not everything he does isn't what you want. From what Merlin tells me he's been happy recently, more than he or Morgana has seen him in years," Gaius disclosed, not expecting it to have any affect on Uther.

"Is this what he thinks? That he lets me down?" Uther asked, looking over his clasped hands at the man he trusted to advise him.

"I suppose that is a part of it, yes," Gaius admitted, "You've driven him hard his entire life; perhaps he just needs you to show your support. Let him know that you support his decisions."

"And if I don't?"

"Then it's about time you let go," the older man reasoned, looking at Uther with the deepest concern, "he's not your little boy anymore, he's grown up into a man who is starting a life and a family of his own. No matter how much you do or don't accept his choices, maybe you need to start trusting them," Gaius bowed his head and left the room.

Uther sat behind his desk, leaning on his elbow, hand rubbing his day-old-stubble-ed chin. Gaius was right. He drove Arthur hard, he always had. Ever since he was a child he had drilled it into him that he needed to do his best. He needed to aim for the stars and never settle for anything below exceptional. Nothing below an A. If it wasn't 100% it wasn't worth it.

And now? Now Uther was paying for it by having a son who wasn't willing to open up to him, who was living a life without him in it.

He didn't want to lose him completely and he knew now to accept that Arthur's life was deviating from his own. There was only so long he could keep his son on a lead rein, and now seemed to be the time to let it go.

* * *

"And then!" Arthur continued, "He had the cheek to say it was my fault!"

"That's Merlin for you, Arthur," she said, passing him the jar for him to open after trying for the last minute and struggling to succeed. Arthur, on the other hand, took a firm grip on the lid and turned it until it opened with ease.

"It wasn't my fault though," he handed the jar back to her. She poured the sauce into the frying pan. It hissed before it calmed.

"Merlin doesn't see it like that. He never does," she admitted, stirring the Bolognese, "I lived with him for two years and somehow I managed to do all the washing up. Organised the paying of the bills. I tidied up. I did the cooking. I-"

"Okay," Arthur interrupted, "Okay, I get it," he said, nudging her out of the way and taking the wooden spoon from her hand, "You're absolutely amazingly wonderful and I should never forget how much work you do."

"Precisely," she smirked, kissing him on the cheek, "Never forget it," she grinned biting her tongue between her teeth. She brushed past him towards the fridge, running her fingers over the back of his shoulders, "Do you want a glass of wine, water oooooor," she clicked her tongue on the top of her mouth, searching for options, "Milk?"

"I'll have some milk," Arthur replied, smiling at her over his shoulder.

"Sure? There's an Australian White in here," she commented, pulling it out and shaking it by the neck.

"I don't feel right drinking on my own," he admitted, scooping the contents of the pan around, "And the milk will go off otherwise."

"I guess," she replaced the alcohol in the door and grabbed the milk from the top shelf. She felt a strange twinge in her stomach. A short repetitive movement in one place. Arthur was waffling on about something behind her; she dropped her head down, looking at the spot. Standing in front of the open fridge she held the milk at her side. She traced her hand over her ever-growing bump, resting her palm over the point she could feel it.

A smile crept over her face.

"Are you gunna stand there all day?" Arthur joked, he turned around to see her looking amused and clutching the side of her stomach, "What?" She beckoned him over, grabbing at his hand and yanking it towards her.

She could feel the baby moving, kicking out. She laid his hand over the spot, holding it down with her own smaller hands.

"Don't you feel that?" she asked, looking at him intently. The disheartened look on his face told her he didn't. The corner of his mouth twinged, trying to not to disappoint her. She looked so happy, but it wasn't something he could share in.

"Blob's probably too small," the doctor in him reasoned. His disappointment already logged in her mind; she removed her hands from over his and cupped his face. She pushed herself onto her tiptoes and pressed a firm kiss to the corner of his lips.

"You're probably right; and you know what? For a tiny baby, it's certainly making me huge!"

"And you're not even half way yet," Arthur teased, Gwen mock glared at him as she tried to suppress a grin, "Pretty soon you won't fit in any of your clothes."

"Thanks honey, you're such a charmer," she turned her attention from him to the bubbling pan on the hob, "I was going to suggest something else, but now I'm hungry. Might as well help with filling out my baggiest clothes," she said, faux injured by his words.

"Well I'm hungry anyway," he replied, pouting. He wrapped his arms around her expanded waistline and pressed a soft kiss to the bare skin of her neck.

"I need the colander."

"The what?" Gwen couldn't help but smile at the lost expression on his face.

"The silver round thing with holes in that isn't a sieve."

"Right. And it is… where?"

"Bottom left cupboard, top shelf next to the cheese grater," Gwen instructed, lifting the pasta pot from the heat and carrying it over towards the sink.

"Ah-ha!" Arthur cheered triumphantly as he produced the silver holed product, "My lady," he said as he presented it to her. She pointed into the sink and he abandoned it over the plug hole.

"Good sir," she replied with a small smirk on her face. Arthur picked up the pasta pot and followed Gwen's instructions to pour the content into the colander.

* * *

Arthur sat silently as they ate their dinner. Luckily for him Gwen had turned the television on as she'd been cooking and was now distractedly watching Relocation Relocation. He barely touched his food, pushing it around the plate and only eating a small portion of it.

When Gwen finished she looked over at him. She saw his solemn face looking down into his food just fiddling with it, "Arthur?"

"Hmm?" He looked up from his daze.

"You feeling okay?" she said eyeing the over half full pasta bowl in his hands.

"Yeah," he replied dejectedly, making a point of eating a mouthful.

"I'm bound to feel it before you are," she murmured, she shifted on the sofa, reaching over to put her bowl on the coffee table. She pulled her knees onto the sofa, leaning against the arm of the sofa to give herself more space. She reached out to put her hand on his knee only serving to make him pull away, "Arthur, come on. Use your doctor brain. You knew this was going to happen."

"It's not that."

"Then what is it?" She probed, taking his abandoned meal out of his hands and placing it with her own on the table, "Talk to me," she sat back again. She hugged her arms around her bump, one hand rested on Arthur's own.

"I dunno. I guess that's part of it, but it's just, your Dad accepted everything. Mine? He tutted. I'm telling you; he fucking tutted at me. He still thinks I'm the eighteen year old jerk he left at Oxford," he crossed his arms defensively across his chest.

"Maybe it's time to prove him wrong? You're not your father," she gently massaged the bare skin of his lower arm. A small knowing smile crept across her face though it went unseen by Arthur, "You're going to be fantastic."

"I just- Every time I do something it is never good enough," he revealed, he pouted for a second before his expression fell again, "I can see it now. I fall in love with a nurse and it won't be good enough because you're not a doctor. Or we have a little girl and that's not good enough because she won't carry on the family name. Or she'll want to be anything that isn't a Doctor and he'll feel let down."

"Has anybody else ever told you that you don't have to live up his expectations?" Gwen asked, edging herself across the sofa closer to him, "You can make him proud in other ways."

"I know that, you know that, but it's never the same for him. Everything has to be done his way."

"I know it's easier to say but breakaway from him. Do things your way and he'll have to deal with it. Hate it or love it, he'll get over it eventually."

"It's not bloody Marmite," Arthur retorted with the first trace of a smile since they'd been cooking.

"I never said it was. Unless you want him to win, you don't have to do what he wants you to do. Make a stand; I think you might find that he'll respect you more for it," Arthur couldn't see how talking it out with his father would help. He would only shove it down Arthur's throat that he was wrong and that was that. It was 'do nothing' or 'go all out war on the situation'. Showing did more than telling when it came to Uther Pendragon.

"Yeah, maybe," he took her hand from his arm and pulled her towards him. She shifted so she was sat on his knees. He traced her fringe away from her face, cupping her chin.

"You'll be surprised," she smiled, leaning towards him.

"You're really heavy," Arthur stated jokily, cheeky grin on his lips as he went slightly cross eyed to look at her lips.

"Shut up," she whispered into his lips as she kissed him.

"No need to be rude," he pushed forwards, running his tongue along her lip. She gently returned the gestured, catching his tongue with her own, "I don't think you deserve it. Punishment."

"Whilst punishing yourself," she said against his mouth, "I don't think s-" she was cut off by his lips on hers. His hand slowly edged up her thigh, making her smile into his kiss. Two could play at that game. She shifted to stand, causing a frustrated groan to escape from Arthur lips. She stood in front of him, settling herself to sit back down one knee either side of his lap.

He smirked, he slid his hands over her legs and to her waist. Gwen studied his face, the blue of his eyes, the arch of his cocked eyebrow. The way his mouth curved and the way it moved when she kissed him.

She did so again now.

There was a heavy knock on the front door.

Through a brief groan, "Ignore it," Arthur mumbled, an arm moving around her a hand resting on the small of her back to keep her there.

"Arthur?" an aged voice called through the front door.

"Oh god, ignore him," Arthur complained as Gwen moved away from him at the sound of his father's voice.

"Ignoring him won't make him go away," Gwen reasoned as the knocking on the door became more insistent. She stood up, correcting her clothing and heading over to the door.

"Gwen-"

"Arthur," she said, punctuating with a stern glare, "I'm not having sex with you whilst your Dad is at the door," she said, voice barely above a whisper as she approached the wood that separated her and her baby's grandfather.

She reached the door, undid the latch and pulled the door open.

"Dr Pendragon," she greeted, trying her hardest to smile at him. Then again, she could see his looking at her midriff with a distained glance before he moved past her towards Arthur, "Nice to see you too," she said under her breath when he was out of ear shot.

"We need to talk," Uther ordered, blanking Gwen completely. She rolled her eyes, like father like son, ignore the problem and hope it goes away. Well, one of the problems, the easier to deal with problem.

Gwen shook her head, and headed over to the kettle. If they were remotely alike both of them would want a cup of tea.

"I think you made your feelings pretty clear before," Arthur replied, standing from the sofa, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"What exactly did I make clear before?"

"That I'm pretty much a thorn in your side. That everything I do will never be good enough for you. Every choice I make is wrong," Arthur said staring his father down. Wanting the power, being right and never letting down were all common Pendragon states, ones that they shared and Arthur hoped he never passed on because they made the pair of them unreasonable and incredibly irritating at times.

"And you got that from what, exactly?" Uther asked calmly narrowing his eyes, "I don't know if you realise how much of a shock finding out your son has a pregnant girlfriend is, do you? You assumed that I was going to be angry, that I was going to shoot you down. Did you even contemplate talking to me about it?" The pair of them stood their ground, Arthur not willing moving as Uther did the same. Gwen ignored them as she poured the boiling water into her cup and the tea pot so she could run away and abandon the argument she didn't want to be a part of, "Does he do this to you?" Uther turned around to look at Gwen who had just shut the fridge door having replaced the milk.

She looked at him stunned. She'd stayed in the room too long and actually been noticed. Oh dear, god.

She turned to Arthur who was looking at her expectantly, waiting for back up, "I'm not going to take sides," she raised her free hand innocently, "He should have told you," she pointed at Arthur, "And you should have made it easier for him to do so," she pointed at Uther, "Tea is in the pot," she whipped her finger around to point at the navy blue ceramic. Done with their feud, she stepped from behind the central counter and towards Arthur's- their bedroom.

"Gwen?"

"If you two are going to fight it out I don't want to hear it," the pleading look on Arthur's face was nearly enough to make her stay. Nearly, "You don't need me. You need to talk to your Dad. Explain and wait for him to reply before you walk off."

"I want you to hear what I have to say," Uther said. Arthur looked over his shoulder at his father, Gwen gawped slightly, "Please?"

"Oh, urm yeah, if that's what you want," Gwen replied, speech resembling that of a mumble. Uther gestured towards the sofa, Arthur stayed standing. He knew sitting around his father meant giving him the power and right now he wasn't in the right frame of mind to do so.

Gwen, on the other hand, sat back on the faithful sofa. She kept her hot tea in her hands taking a short sip from it and looking over the rim to Uther. He didn't look as fierce or commanding as he did usually.

"I know I was slightly rash the other day, but I was processing. Not being told until after you'd made your little display, it- I would have handled it better if you had told me yourself."

"I was going to. I'd phoned you to tell you, but then it got left to answer phone and it all just went downhill from there," Arthur defended, his arms folded across his chest. He'd give anything to go back to five minutes ago; life was so much simpler then.

"I hate that I have made you feel like you cannot be honest with me, Arthur. I'm your father, I should be there for you. You shouldn't feel a need to hide things from me."

"You've never accepted any choice I made myself," Arthur stated truthfully. Gwen watched them through the exchange, this was Uther Pendragon telling them that he wasn't about to put a stopper in anything they were doing. If anything, he was supporting them. Was that what this was? This was Uther rational and having thought it through and not demanding all the things that Arthur had said he would.

"Well consider this the first," his father retorted.

"And what if it's a little girl who doesn't want to keep her name to carry on your precious line, who doesn't want to be a doctor and wants to travel the world for charity?"

"Then I'd say you'd done a great job as a father breaking the mould I've created. I wouldn't expect anything less from any child of yours, Arthur. If you are anything to go by, they should tell me, and you, to go to hell if we ever try and make them do something they don't want to."

* * *

"So what you're saying is that Uther came over, didn't kick up a fuss and willingly accepted that Baby Arthur has finally flown the nest?" Gwen's Irish friend laughed as the pair of them walked into the ER with take away coffee cups in their hands.

"Basically, then he had a cup of tea, and was asking me questions about anything and everything and suggested not so subtly that 'Uther' was a really good name," Gwen mentioned, trying not to laugh.

"I hope you shot him down."

"In a heartbeat," the pair of them laughed abandoning the extra cups on the desk. Gwen grabbed a marker and scribbled names on the sides of them, "I dunno, wouldn't seem right giving the child somebody else's name."

"And, of all people, a person like Uther to live up to being," Morgana concluded.

"He's not that bad, not really."

Morgana raised a sceptical eyebrow at her friend, looking at her over her thick rimmed glasses, "We are talking about the same guy right?" Gwen laughed, heading towards the Doctor's lounge, "Remind me to go to the opticians later, down to my last pair of contacts."

"Go to the opticians later," Gwen said, smile on her face biting her tongue between her teeth, "A lot of people exceed your expectations when you give them a chance, you know."

"Yeah?" Morgana chided a knowing grin on her face.

"Yeah," Gwen could feel the baby move. The little being kicking out harder than it had a few days before, "Where's Arthur?" she asked Morgana as she spotted him through the glass of one of the exam rooms. She quickly handed her friend her coffee cup and briskly walked past a man in a wheelchair and another nurse who had their arms full of supplies.

She dodged into the exam room, one hand on the top of her bump.

"You'll need to take one every four hours, no more than four in twenty-four hours. Okay?" The patient smiled and nodded at him taking the paper packet Arthur handed her.

"You have company?" the patient pointed at Gwen who moved as swiftly as she could manage across the room.

Arthur turned confusion on his face. She grabbed his hand and replaced her hand with it, holding it to the spot where she could feel it. He frowned slightly, and then there it was.

Kick. Kick. Kick.

The dopiest of smiles spread like quick fire across Arthur's face. He ran his thumb over her bump with a massive grin. He lifted his other hand to the side of her cheek drawing her towards him and pressing his lips to hers.

"I'll just… uh, go," the patient slipped away, prescription in hand and arm wrapped in a new cast, hung in a sling, "Yeah… thanks," she closed the door behind her. Morgana caught her eye and laughed. She looked through the window, still clutching the two cups of coffee. She smiled at the sight of her brother and her best friend stood with sickly sweet, cute smiles on their faces.

"A hard beginning maketh a good end," Morgana sighed to herself, taking a sip from Gwen's cup and pulling a face, "Urgh decaf. What is the point? Needs sugar."

"Who needs sugar?" Merlin asked coming up behind her.

"You do," she answered handing him Gwen's coffee. She kissed him quickly on the lips, "Good shift?"

"Busy," he admitted, stealing a sip of Gwen's coffee and like Morgana cringed at it, "You were right. Needs sugar."


	8. Daddy Issues

**Part Seven**

The weather outside was the best it had been for a long time. Midsummer's day had just passed which had seen a few entertaining Druid cases that had intrigued Morgana more than they should have. She'd mentioned something about visiting Stonehenge next Midsummer's. Merlin had nodded and agreed without listening and when Morgana had gone he'd asked Gwen what he'd agreed to.

Arthur made some half arsed attempt at a joke before he'd run away to find some coffee. Whoever had made the pot this afternoon hadn't changed the filter or added new coffee and it was incredibly stale tasting, but it was rather that than nothing.

Otherwise what else would he have to stare into?

He heard the door open and click close behind him; "There you are," it was Merlin, "Morgana wanted to know where you were. Something about a family dinner? I dunno, apparently I'm invited too."

"'Kay," Arthur swallowed nothing, staring at the dark brown liquid in his hand.

"Your Dad wants to make some sort of announcement," Merlin shrugged slumping down on the other side of the lumpy sofa.

"Mhmm," Arthur ran his finger down the side of his polystyrene cup.

"And then he's going to do a naked lap dance for us all," Merlin concluded looking at his friend.

"Cool," Merlin raised an eyebrow, "Hang on, what?" Arthur's head shot around to look at Merlin with his eyes wide.

"So you were listening then," Merlin joked, taking Arthur's coffee from him. He stuck his finger in it and his mouth upturned. Cold.

"Yeah, well no," Arthur admitted, he cleared his throat and mumbled a hushed apology.

"What's up?"

Arthur looked up to the ceiling; "Asbestos infused ceiling tiles."

"What seriously?" Merlin replied looking worriedly up at the ceiling.

"What do you think, Merlin?" Arthur rested his head on the back of the sofa and glared at his friend.

"Okay, okay. Seriously, you've been a grumpy twat all day, what's wrong?" Merlin asked, mimicking Arthur's movement only minus the scowl and plus a concerned frown.

"I'm fine."

"Liar. What's wrong?" Merlin probed, he showed no sign of leaving before he got what he wanted. Arthur sighed.

"What if I'm not ready for this?" the blonde questioned. His vulnerability showing visibly on his face. It wasn't anything Merlin had ever seen before. He'd only known Arthur since he'd gotten his job at Albion Hospital two years ago, but it seemed like he had known him for a lifetime. Arthur was the guy with the tough man exterior, it was very rare for him to show anybody anything remotely resembling the innerworkings of his twisted mind.

"For what?" the glare returned to Arthur's face, "Oh. Have you spoken to Gwen about it?" Merlin asked, thinking it the most suitable solution to his problems.

"How can I tell her that after saying I'd be there for her I don't know if I can?"

"If you abandoned her it won't just be Morgana you're running from," Merlin warned, his tone suddenly dark and a glare in his eye, "This whole department will want your hind."

"I didn't say I was going to abandon her," Arthur defended; he sat up from the sofa and rested his elbows on his knees and looked at Merlin.

"As good as."

"It's not what I meant," Arthur said looking at the lino floor. One thing Merlin had been quick to learn about Arthur was that he didn't have a way with words. If he expressed anything it was with a fist to a wall or pent up anger that he mulled over for weeks and let rip on the staff.

"Well maybe you should try explaining it properly," Merlin said, leaning towards him. It wasn't often that Arthur opened up to anybody; he wasn't going to arse about now he was.

"I'm going to be a father," Arthur said simply.

"Yeah…" Merlin prodded, he had been hoping for a little more than that, but it was evident that it was never going to come.

"That's about it."

"Right."

"You're really helpful, you know that?" Arthur said, looking over at his friend, resting his cheek on his thumbs. Arthur was one to talk. How could Merlin help when he was giving him so little to work with?

"Thanks," Merlin beamed before his face fell, "Oh right, joking. From what I've seen Arthur, not only does Gwen – for no feasible reason I can understand – love you, but she trusts that you'll do anything for this kid. There is something she sees in you that everybody else can see too: you're going to be a good Father."

"What if I'm not?" Arthur asked. To Merlin, Arthur looked truly like he couldn't possibly comprehend the chances of him actually being a _good_ father. It seemed like such a shame to Merlin. The man he knew for his ego and over-confidence looked broken. Merlin wasn't one to stroke Arthur ego, but he looked so helpless.

"That's not an option, really, is it?" Merlin said truthfully, "She brings out this side of you none of us have ever seen before. It's that man that's going to be the father you don't see yourself being, yet."

"How do you know?" Arthur asked him. He'd never trusted Merlin's judgement before; he didn't see why he should now.

"Because I see him whenever you look at her," Merlin answered with that stupid smile he got on his face. It was the smile he'd had planted on his face the day Morgana had finally shut him up in the middle of the department. Grabbed him by the scrubs and kissed him. It hadn't been expected by many, but in retrospect they really should have seen it coming.

"Thanks, Merlin," Arthur said gratuitously, reaching out and clamping his hand down on his shoulder.

"Feeling better?" Merlin asked him, worried for both of his friends – and his own – wellbeing. Morgana would string him up and leave him for dead if he let Arthur do anything remotely stupid.

"Yeah, a bit. Thanks."

"Come on, patients to see," Merlin stood up, threw Arthur's cold coffee in the bin and headed for the door, "You're really okay?"

"I'll be fine, Merlin."

"Okay, good," Merlin said, hand on the door handle, "Talk to Gwen about it, yeah? And I'll see you at dinner later."

"God, you were serious?" Arthur's eyes went wide, he'd hoped against hope that Merlin had been joking. It wasn't like his father to call them to dinner. They'd barely eaten with him when Arthur and Morgana had been younger. He'd always been so busy working at the hospital. They'd rarely eaten with Morgana's mother before she'd died eleven years ago.

"Deadly. Morgana said something about a death threat to all those invited if they fail to show up. Something about being diced and quartered."

"Fantastic," Arthur replied dryly looking nonplussed by the whole thing. He didn't need Gwen being subjected to the awkwardness of dinner in the Pendragon household. When it had happened it was all awkward silences and long pauses in conversation where nobody had nothing better than insults to throw at each other. At least these days Morgana and Arthur could bear to be in the same room with each other.

"See you later, Daddio," Merlin chuckled as he finally exited.

"Bye, Merlin," he said as the door closed, "and thanks."

* * *

The Pendragon household was a grand affair. Eighteen bedrooms, ten acres, four horses and a large ornamental garden at the back of the building. It wasn't like anything Gwen had ever encountered before. Day's out as a kid had involved small fetes and food related endeavours. Her parents had never enjoyed historical things and avoided boring her with them.

When Gwen had visited Morgana after school it had always been in the town house they resided in during the week that had been closer to the school. Gwen had met her one day after her father had taken her with him on one of his electrician calls. She'd had the flu but he couldn't turn down the job so had bundled her in, in a blanket with a hot water bottle, and sat her in the corner with a book until he had finished his work.

She was fifteen years old and he didn't want to leave her on her own in case she'd fainted or needed him. It was all a bit over-kill, Gwen had thought, but she didn't question it.

It was then that she had met Morgana.

Even at sixteen she was elegant and quite possibly the single most controversial person Gwen had ever met. Lived in a gifted world with all she could possibly want and all she wanted to do was live on the down low. Though, following in the family line. Well, her step-family line, one she has adopted as her own. It had pretty much been the family she had known for the last sixteen years, so why not?

The group of them were sat around the overly large oak table. The housekeeper had served the five of them, dishes of vegetables and a larger plate that heralded a joint of meat. Gwen knew better than to expect the meal to be cooked by anybody other than a member of staff.

Still, she could appreciate the work that had gone into it and it truly was superb. She'd managed to avoid being the topic of conversation over dinner. Merlin and Arthur had started a debate about the amount of work nurses did compared to the doctors.

"Yeah, you do more work than a doctor if that doctor is _Arthur_," Morgana argued, she looked at her boyfriend pointedly.

"I didn't mean you."

"Really?" she raised her eyebrows, "Why don't you specify?"

Gwen couldn't help but laugh at her two best friends. It was an argument that broke up tirelessly among them. When his opponent was Merlin, Arthur never gave in. He would swear until he was blue in the face that he was the harder worker. But when faced with the hurricane that was an angry Gwen he didn't think it worth it. Deep down, he knew she was right anyway. She was always dodging around at the hospital multiple things in her hands.

"Dad? Aren't you going to defend our profession?" Arthur asked, looking to his right. Uther sat at the head of the table, the two couples of either side of him, his children sat immediately next to him.

"Both of you have valid points. Without the nurses the doctors wouldn't be able to make ends meet. They make up smaller parts of a machine that works well together," Uther reasoned.

"And your bias opinion?"

"I have to run a smooth operation, I can't afford to have a bias opinion," Uther said as he raised his wine glass to his mouth and took a long swig of the red liquid.

"But you do have one?" Gwen asked, more so interested to see how he would respond than his actual answer. She didn't want to push him to snapping point, but she felt that she had to prove to him that she meant business. He'd respect her more if she didn't back down and formed her own opinions rather than follow the crowd.

"Of course. I'm a doctor, but without the nurses at hand I'd not be where I was today. I didn't save a single patient on my own. It's women," Merlin cleared with throat, "people, like the pair of you, that make that possible."

"Oh come on, Uther," Morgana probed, "Who does more work?" she circled her finger in the air, indicated the four youths, "Out of us lot?"

"From what I've seen? Gwen does," Merlin's jaw dropped in distain. Morgana laughed. Gwen blushed. Though he felt he should be the slightest bit offended that his own father didn't think he did any work, Arthur beamed, looking to his left at his girlfriend, "Whenever I've been in the department recently she's the only person who has actually been doing anything."

"I do stuff," Merlin huffed jokingly, strangely at ease.

"No, you don't" Arthur said with a laugh. The idea of Merlin actually _doing_ any thing was highly amusing.

"He did finish that suduko puzzle last week," Morgana smirked, leaning over to pat her boyfriend on the knee.

"Well, actually-" Gwen started.

"Gwen!" Merlin coughed, none to subtly shutting her up.

Merlin had never been one to be comfortable in Doctor Pendragon's presence. He'd never found him particularly agreeable but needs must. He had to actually seem like he did work in front of him. He didn't care what Uther thought, just as long as he didn't hate him enough to drive a wedge between him and Morgana it was all dandy.

* * *

It was late, the stars were in the sky and Arthur was glad he didn't need to be anywhere particularly early the next day. He stood on his old bedroom's small balcony overlooking the fountain in the gardens. He could remember the times when this was all he had. Back when he had no worries in the world. Back before Oxford and six years hard work.

It was nice to be able to breathe in the summer air and relax. He was exactly, well near exactly, where he had wanted himself to be. He had his degree, he was head of his department and he had the girl he'd wanted for the last ten years. Admittedly it was a bit screwed up and the order was well, as out of it as it could be, but they were happy with where they were.

"Morgana said you'd be here," Arthur turned to see Gwen stood in his bedroom doorway, "you're still as predictable as you were way back when."

"Morgana say that too?" Arthur asked looking back out to the fountain, watching the water run over the edge of the weather worn stone.

"Your father, actually," Gwen approached, standing by his side. She took in all of what greeted her.

"Seems like you've made an impression on him."

"A good one, I hope," Gwen laughed. She leant on her side. She interlocked her fingers and rested her hands atop her small bump.

"How could anybody form a bad impression of you?"

"That little old lady who tutted at me when I corrected her when she asked me if my husband was anticipating the birth," Gwen suggested. Arthur turned ninety degrees to face her.

"What did you tell her?"

"The truth; that my partner was, but we aren't married. You know, if she hadn't have crashed I think she may have told me that my baby was an illegitimate bastard," they both laughed.

"Old-fashioned people scare me."

"Scare? Not so much. Annoy the hell out of me? Yeah. They don't know me; they shouldn't be allowed to judge me," she sighed. Arthur reached out a hand and gently cupped her cheek.

"Ignore them," he soothingly rubbed his thumb over her cheekbone, "So your life isn't perfect to them. As long as you're happy."

"I'm happy if you're happy," Gwen replied, she leant into his hand, revelling in the warmth of his contact.

"Well I'm happy if you are," Arthur grinned dopily. Gwen opened her eyes and glowered at him with a mischievous glint in her eye.

"Don't start that, we'll get nowhere," Arthur laughed softly. Gently, he pulled Gwen's body into him, as close as he could manage with the baby between them, wrapping his arms around her. Gwen rested her head on his shoulder. He threaded a hand through her hair. Gwen's hands rested on his chest, one balled into the material of his shirt.

"How's Blobby today?" she could feel his hot breath on her skin behind her ear.

"_Blobby_ is fine. A bit restless. I think it missed you."

"_Missed_ me?" Arthur enquired, still holding her close to him, "I've not been anywhere."

"Not physically. Mentally you've been kind of far away," he could feel the heat of her breath through his thin shirt. He ran one hand around to her front. Gwen moved one hand down to rest over his.

"I'm sorry," he pressed a reassuring kiss to her hair. Gwen gently pulled away so she could look him in the face. She studied his solemn features, the light in his usually bright eyes was absent.

"What's wrong?"

"It just hit me."

"What did?"

"That I've got to be ready for this. That this is my life. The weirdest thing is, this is everything I ever wanted and I'm questioning whether any of it is real. Like one day I'll wake up and it would have all been a dream and I'll be seventeen again. Waking up having met you for the first time and wanting what I'll never have."

"If it's a dream I'm having the same one," Gwen admitted with an amused face on her face. She watched the man before her as he bowed his head in a laugh, "It scares me too. It scares me that I could lose everything in the drop of a hat, the blink of an eye-"

"A shake of a lamb's tail?" Arthur added, the small shine slowly returning to his gaze.

"Exactly," Gwen moved back from Arthur slightly. She kept her hand over his with a firm hold. She held his look, she needed him to believe her, "Yet I know I'll always have at least on thing I want. One thing I don't think I could ever face losing."

"And what's that then?" With her free hand she hit him upside the shoulder. Arthur's smirk turned into a genuine smile but even that slowly faded away, "What if I'm not good enough? What if I'm my father's son?"

"No matter how hard you try, you'll always be Arthur _Pendragon_, you can't escape that," Gwen reasoned.

Arthur shook his head at her; "What if I turn into him? Like father like son? I never saw my father when I was younger. It was always nurses and nannies and people that weren't him. Morgana's father was a bigger presence in my life before he died and her mother married my father. It was like he was punishing me for my mother's death," Gwen raised her hand to the side of his face, delicately caressing the soft skin.

"That wasn't your fault, he would know that."

"Doesn't matter. My mother died _because_ of me."

"She died because her blood wouldn't clot and she lost far too much," Morgana had told Gwen everything about their families. She knew every small detail of both their lives. She's had ten years to do her research, if she didn't know the finer details of their lives Morgana would have thought her a failure.

Sometimes Gwen felt sorry for Arthur. She knew all these things about him but he didn't know them about her. He'd had to probe and ask. It was only fair if she divulged the information considering he'd never had the choice to stop her from knowing.

"But what if I'm like him though. What if I'm the absent father he was?"

"You won't be."

"How do you know?" He asked. The look on his face truly told her that he honestly believed he was going to end up being a disappointment. Gwen sighed and reached into her pocket reproducing her phone and going into her inbox.

"From: Arthur; 'Running to Costa. Do you need anything? x'. From: Arthur; 'Old Man Simmons asked how you were. Told him you were 'gorgeous and glowing'. Thought I'd repeat the sentiment. x'. From: Arthur; 'Merlin called you puffy. Punched him on the arm. Only I'm allowed to call you puffy. x'. Plus about thirty other messages. And that's just _today_. From: Arthur; 'If Dad murders me tonight: remember I love you. Name the baby Blobby for me. x'."

Gwen smiled, unable to help herself laughing. She readjusted her grip on his face and looked into his eyes, pleading with him to trust her, "I have faith in _you_, Arthur."

Strangely, though it had been the same thing he had been told by Merlin that morning, hearing it from Gwen had been that much more meaningful. Seeing the inbox screen of her phone had made him feel guilty. All he did was lovingly insult her and call her 'fat'.

"No more of this, okay? You're going to be a fantastic father. Trust me."

"I trust you."

Arthur scooped Gwen towards him, turning her so she was facing the gardens before them. He settled her back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her, hand still resting in the same place.

"You know, way back when, before he started dating my sister, I used to think you and Merlin had this whole 'friends with benefits' thing going on," Arthur admitted, mood lightened by her reassuring presence alone.

"You think I slept with Merlin?" she asked, not even bothering to hide the laughter in her voice.

"Everybody did."

"Everybody did?"

"Well, maybe just me, but you have to admit it looked a bit sus. You lived together, you worked together and you're threateningly close," Arthur jested, his hot breath on her ear.

"Really? You're threatened by Merlin?"

"I would be if he wouldn't incur my sister's wrath," the pair of them laughed. Arthur gently nestled his chin into the crook of Gwen's neck, pressing his lips to her pulse point, "I love you."

Gwen turned her head, smile locked on her face, "I love you too," she kissed him firmly on the lips. The pair of them felt 'Baby Leodegrance-Pendragon' as it moved in her womb, "Blobby concurs. Don't you, Baby? She/he loves you too."

"Well that's good to know," Arthur smiled hugging her closer to his chest, protecting them both against the chill in the air that had started to settle in.


	9. Always a Woman

Hi guys, sorry for the wait with the update, I've just gotten back from being in Pierrefonds for the week at the castle for filming. It was immense. Got a lot of ideas and a lot to write now! So expect lots from me soon! In any case, have a good read. Doc x

**Part Eight**

It was a busy, busy day in the ER department of Albion Hospital. There had been a heat wave across England and more and more people were coming in with heatstroke and related problems. People needed re-hydrating which meant IV after IV of fluid for nearly all the people admitted to the department. The halls were lined with patients, none of which were being seen at a particularly fast pace.

After seeing about twenty patients all with the same ailment _Gwen's_ patience was starting to wear a little thin.

It didn't that help that everybody she came across on the staff seemed to ignore the pile of IV's in her hand and asked her to some something, piling her up with things to do and things to deliver to various places and patients because she didn't have anything else to do…

Oh no, today nobody seemed to care that she was pregnant and running around all day 'wasn't good for her'. She felt a little torn about it. In one respect she liked that they weren't treating her specially, but the other half of her wanted to shout at them for loading her with so many things to do. She was tired and cranky and walking around so much was hurting her feet and her back.

And if that kid threw up on her one more time she was going to lose it, she had already had to change three times because of it.

She stood at the reception desk, swigging from her rapidly heating up water. She tried to calm herself down, but all the voices started coming at her;

"Gwen, could you check on Mrs Roger's for me?"

"Gwen, could you run a new IV for Miss Goodyard for me?"

"Gwen, could you run these to the lab for me?"

"Gwen, where are Mrs Fortune's films?"

Arthur spotted her across the settling department. He dodged a leaving patient and approached her, "Gwen-"

"You know what, for _once_ it would be nice not to have to spend all my time doing things for other people," Gwen snapped, slamming her open water bottle down on the reception desktop, a little shooting up and over spilling, "When does _anybody_ do _anything_ for me?" She yelled at Arthur who stood wide eyed before her, "It makes me sick. I can't be that person all the time. Once in a while I just need somebody to do something for me. Say 'here Gwen, have a home cooked meal and relax listening to Billy Joel' or 'let me run those to the lab for you, Gwen'. Have a candle lit bubble bath and just be selfish for _once_. But I can't!

"Everybody else's needs come before my own, every day. If I'm not doing something for you, it's for Morgana, or Merlin or _hell_ even Leon," Arthur directed her away into an empty exam room. He was thankful that there was one so close, she was drawing quite a crowd of attention, "If it's not for them it's for another nurse and if it's not something to do with work it's something for the baby's sake," she shot daggers at him then, if looks could kill, "My back hurts, my feet hurt and I just want to be able to take five minutes to be selfish. I want to walk into a shop and buy something for _me_, not the baby. I want to go to the supermarket and buy something _I_ want for dinner.

"God, I love you, but I fucking hate you as well," she stopped and looked up at him, her eyes flashed with anger, enough to make him duck away if he had the choice of cowardice over bravery.

He reached out a hand towards her, "Don't touch me," he ignored her command and slid his hand behind her neck and pulled her towards him, "Stop it. No. I'm angry with you," she said battering him away from her.

"No you aren't," he said pulling her back towards him, "You're just hormonal and annoyed and taking it out on me," she hit his chest with her clenched fist and hammered it against him.

She glared up at him, how dare her tell her what she was feeling; "Fuck off," she pushed away from him taking a step back.

"I'd love to, but then you'd have a go at me for not listening to you and you'd 'hate' me more," he said trying not to laugh at her. She could see the mirth in his eyes and looked to the floor. She laughed slightly before she sniffed, "was that a smile?"

"No."

"That was a smile," He dipped his head to force her to look in his eyes. She automatically moved her head to the side to avoid the piercing blue eyes looking her way.

"No, it wasn't," she replied determinedly keeping her features stony.

"Take a break," he suggested, rubbing his hand soothingly up and down her arm, "Things are under control here, it's starting to thin out again. Go get a Hot Chocolate, or well, in this weather, a cold one. Come back in thirty minutes and be calm."

"Thirty minutes?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. She couldn't just abandon the ER for half an hour with no actual reason.

"Want an hour? Take an hour."

"That's not what I- What if we get slammed?" he chuckled lightly at her. He took a hold of the sides of her face. He rubbed the pads of his thumbs across her cheek bones, and looked her directly in the eye.

"We'll manage. People can pick up their own slack instead of you for a change."

"Arthur, I-"

"Go," he ordered softly, "Before I change my mind."

* * *

The July heat was near unbearable in the emergency department. Summer was in full swing and there was a mass of patients with sun stroke. A littering of electric fans filled the hospital. Some even had those little streamers flying from them with served to amuse Merlin as he walked past them and the ribbon hit him in little flicks.

The nurse sat, exhausted in the summer heat, in front of one of them, his face an inch from the wire mesh. Though there were no ribbons flying around him he smiled; "Exterminate!" He laughed into it, "Exterminate!"

"Merlin, what _are_ you doing?" Arthur asked signing another chart from a teenager who had fainted in the heat wave.

"I was being a Dalek..."

"Great. _Why_?" Arthur asked him. He feared for the nurse's mental state most days, today was one of those days. The heat was clearly getting to him.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," he shrugged, he pushed away from the fan. He didn't look remotely guilty or embarrassed at being caught.

"Of course it did," he set the chart into the rack and looked at Merlin, "I need you to get something for me."

"Shoot," Arthur reeled off a list of items he required and handed Merlin a twenty pound note, "And when am I meant to get this stuff?"

"Now?" Arthur suggested. Merlin was pretty much finished on his shift anyway, what different would half an hour make?

"I'm gone," Merlin pushed back from the desk and stood, heading for the Doctor's Lounge in order to pick up his bag and leave without another question.

* * *

Gwen approached the apartment door; she saw a piece of A4 paper blu tacked to the front door. She frowned and smoothed it down to read it; "_Guinevere, knock and await further instruction"_ Not one to go against what she was told she raised her hand and rapped on the wood.

"Two seconds!" she heard Arthur shout. She stood with her keys in her hand and waited as he'd instructed. The door opened and she was greeted by her boyfriend dressed in a dapper suit and crisp white shirt. In his hand he had a dress bag hooked over his finger. Before she could speak he handed her the bag and produced a tie from his pocket. He pulled the door too so she couldn't see into the apartment.

"Arthur?" he indicated for her to turn around, "Ar-"

He silenced her placing his finger over her lips, "Just trust me," she frowned, and glared at him slightly before her walked behind her. If she wouldn't turn around…

He tied the fabric about her eyes, hindering her sight; "How many fingers?" he asked holding out four in front of her face.

"One."

"No."

"I wasn't talking about you," she retaliated, unable to see anything around her. Arthur chuckled. She could feel him move back in front of her and push the door open in front of her. He took a hold of both of her hands and guided her into the place they called home.

As he lead her, himself walking backwards, across the open planned area, she sniffed the sir; "Arthur, whatever that is, please don't let it be poisoned."

"Don't worry," he chortled, pushing the bathroom door wide open, leading her in, "I didn't cook it."

"Oh, thank God," she mocked as he positioned her in the middle of the room, facing away from the door.

"Cheeky mare," he pulled the knot loose and let his silk tie fall from her eyes, "This is for you. Get changed, do whatever it is girls do, and I'll come back in fifteen minutes."

"Fifteen minutes?"

"Fifteen minutes," he placed a quick kiss to her cheek and disappeared pulling the door too behind him. She turned and headed over to the door, ready to pull it open, "Don't even think about it," Arthur said from just outside the door, leaning against the wall next to it.

"Fifteen minutes," she mouthed again in astonishment. That was barely enough to actually be presentable after a twelve hour shift.

She turned her attention to the dress bag. She unzipped it, and emerged the garments from it's confides. Her jaw dropped slightly. It was gorgeous. It was a knee length dress made of the finest chiffon material. It had a layered skirt – one that would start under her bust and fan out comfortably over her bump.

She gently chewed on her lower lip, running her fingers over the material. It was even the right size. She didn't know what to expect from the rest of their evening, but from the fine aroma that filled her senses she wasn't going to be disappointed.

She took a deep breath, stopping herself from crying happy tears. Now she only had twelve minutes left.

* * *

"You've got one minute left. That's one minute left!" Arthur shouted like a siren through the door. He made his way over to the moderately sized dining time. He struck a match and held the ignited wood to the wick of the candle. He lit the three white, long candles.

He had set it properly, fork to the left, knife to the right, desert spoon and fork at the top of the rectangle, the spoon following the line of the knife, and the fork facing the opposite direction. He had a wine glass set at the top of each knife, with a napkin in each. On the kitchen counter were two plates ready to be loaded with the meal Arthur had enlisted a local restaurant chef to cook for him. He didn't need to poison Guinevere, he was trying to make her feel better, not ill.

"Five!" he called out, "Four! Three!" he stood outside the door with his hand on the knob, "Two."

"Hang on!"

"One," Arthur opened the door. Gwen had her back to the door, her fingers running through her hair.

She saw him in the mirror and smiled, "The dress is gorgeous."

"Not as gorgeous as you," Gwen laughed, and turned to face him. She had pulled the top layer of her hair up with a couple of clips, with a few loose tendrils around her face. She walked over to him in bare feet, her fingers linked in front of her, "Come here."

She approached him gingerly, only to have him place a hand over her eyes and manoeuvre to stand behind her.

"Arthur-"

"Two steps," he whispered into her ear, his breath hot on her neck. She obliged, "two more," he said again, following her every move as he guided her to the door, "One small step."

He lowered his hand from her face as they reached the bathroom door.

Gwen stood in stunned silence. She looked around; there was a bouquet of white roses on the coffee table, two pans on the hob containing whatever it was that smelt so good.

"Before you ask; no, I didn't cook from scratch, and no I didn't cook ready meals. I enlisted Mr Cheng from the Chinese to come up and cook your favourite meal. He did attempt to teach me, but after five minutes he politely sat me down again. But I did help. I chopped and I grated and it is technically home cooked," Gwen laughed, raising her hand in front of her mouth as she smiled.

"I'm sure it's the finest chopping and grated I ever did see," she joked, dabbing at the tears that welled in her eyes.

"Well, probably not, but I tried," he laughed into her ear, still standing behind her. He kissed her hair, wrapping his arms around her middle.

"Thank you," she leant back into his suited chest and turned her head to catch his lips with her own.

"Anything for you," he smiled against her lips then reciprocating the kiss a number of times before he pulled away again and gently guiding her forwards pointing out the things as he mentioned them, "I let him cook, and I did the table and the decorations," she noticed the small silver details on the table, "and the flowers and everything else."

"I love it, thank you," he picked up the stray remote from the dining table as they levelled with it and clicked the play button. Gwen let out a short laugh as Billy Joel started playing out of the speakers, "Even the music."

"Just to prove I do listen to you sometimes."

"I was just venting," she mumbled sheepishly, she looked at the floor avoiding making eye contact for her own embarrassments sake.

"Now she tells me. I'll just eat all this myself then-"

"No!" she looked at him then, her eyes frantic with a smile on her face, "I mean," she cleared her throat, "you've gone to all the trouble, it would just be cruel to make you eat it all yourself."

"Because making oneself fat is your job," she looked at him in faux distain, the playful smirk on his face telling her that he didn't mean it vindictively.

"It's your fault," she replied childishly, baiting him.

"_My_ fault?" he clutched his chest, offended by her accusation, with a small smirk tugging at the side of his mouth, "You're the one that got pregnant."

"Your mutant sperm infected me," they both laughed.

"Oh thanks, I love you too," wrapping his arm around her shoulder he pulled her into him and placed a doting kiss upon her forehead.

"I know."

* * *

"This is amazing," Gwen commented after finishing her third morsel of her dinner.

"Mr Cheng does it best," Arthur replied having shovelled in half his meal all ready.

"Thank you for this, Arthur. Nobody has ever done anything like this for me before," she uttered before taking another mouthful.

"What you said was right. Everybody takes you for granted. I just wanted to show you that not everybody does. I _know_ I'm lucky to have you," he stopped eating, fork still in his hand, and took the time out to study her face as she looked at him in return, "I've not been waiting ten years for nothing."

"Arthur-"

"It's okay. I do realise most of that was me grunting at you being your typical boy. I'm not asking for an 'I always liked you too'," he smiled and twirled his ok around the noodles on his plate, "Would be nice though."

"You were my best friends step-brother-"

"I still am."

"Yeah, but I was sixteen, best friend's brother was a little strange back then," she said, taking a sip of her drink, "But if it helps; I always thought you were hot."

Arthur snorted into his dinner. He coughed slightly having caught a small piece of food in the back of his throat, "That's," he started, coughing one more time, "That's good to know."

"Thought you might appreciate it," she smirked taking another bite of her food, "All the horror stories Morgana told me, I couldn't."

"Couldn't what?"

"Admit that talking to you, when you were vocal, made my nights," she uttered truthfully as she looked into her plate, "That I saw you looking at me. That I deliberately avoided you when I could just to make life a little bit easier."

"Well then," he replied smugly, "I guess I should be grateful that you came to your sense then, shouldn't I?"

Gwen laughed, "After lots of alcohol and a drunken fumble?" She watched his eyes cast down into his plate solemnly, "I'm joking, Arthur. We're hardly conventional. We never will be. We went about everything backwards, but we got there eventually."

"We only took ten years about it."

"Yeah, but was it worth it?"

"Every second."

* * *

They finished their main courses with gentle banter, lingering smiles and delicious food. On finishing, Gwen didn't know if it was her stomach being so full of food – giving her a 'food baby' on top of her nearing five month baby bump – or that she hadn't noticed the increase in size. Arthur would have made a point of telling her if she had.

"That was delicious," Gwen concluded placing down her fork and pairing it with her knife atop the plate.

"I'll tell Mr Cheng you said so," Arthur said with a smile, having finished his food five minutes ago and spent the rest of the time watching Gwen. She'd sat some of the time with her fork in one hand and her other subconsciously smoothing over the skirt of her dress and the baby. Other times she ran her forkless hand through her hair or consciously over the straps of the dress.

"You didn't have to go through all this trouble, Arthur."

"I wanted to. Besides, the night isn't over yet," Gwen's blissful expression changed to a questioning one as Arthur stood up. He reached her side and offered out his hand, "My lady," she took it and stood, unsure of what he was getting at before he lead her to the cleared space.

He stood in front of her; he took one of her hands and placed it on his waist doing the same with hers.

"I thought you didn't dance?"

"At a family wedding with people watching me? Of course I didn't dance. I was nineteen and far too cool to be caught dead dancing with anybody there."

"Even me?"

"Had you been single at the time, I'd have been there like a shot," he answered truthfully, but he'd felt awkward asking her to dance when he had no 'right' to. She was somebody else's girlfriend, even if Lance hadn't been there, Arthur didn't trust himself just to dance, "The only time I'm ever going to dance in public would be at my own wedding when it obligatory."

Gwen laughed, "Is that right?"

"Oaky Cokey is an appropriate first dance, no?" he asked as he twirled her slowly in front of him.

"Better get practised at shaking it all about then, hadn't we?" Arthur's heart skipped a beat. He eyed her, she didn't even realise quite what she had just said to him. He grinned broadly.

"Yeah, better had."


	10. Sibling Duty

**Part Nine**

Arthur used to be one of the lads. He used to go out - when he wasn't shattered from a days work – clubbing, pubbing, always on the pull. His longest relationship had lasted a month, and that was only because Morgana had bet him fifty quid that it wouldn't last as long. So he earned his money and moved on. It had certainly been an experience, but he'd always had his gaze trained elsewhere.

When he was younger he'd given up any sort of hope that a relationship with Gwen was ever going to happen. He'd thought himself insane for thinking it was remotely possible and pathetic for pining after her for so long. Moving on had never worked. He had been faced with her every other day when they were teenagers and every other weekend when he was studying at university, when she visited Morgana.

Then she'd gone and got a job at the hospital, there really was no escaping her. He'd replaced feelings and emotion with being a bit of a prat, until everything had come to surface and now they were where they were.

It was all completely backwards, but at least now they were on the right track.

Gwen was sat at the kitchen counter with a number of leaflets scattered across it in front of her. She had one in her hand and was reading the back page that was full of times and 'further information' about certain classes.

The door bell rang. Arthur got up from the sofa in order to let his sibling into his home.

She entered, handing Arthur a bottle of wine and her coat; "Thanks Morgana," he said dryly looking at the offending garment.

"Be a good host, Arthur," Gwen said. Her voice was distant as her attention was still on the leaflet in front of her.

"I'm not a coat hook," he argued, hanging the garment by the door, "and she could have done it herself!"

"That's nice, honey."

"Give it up, Arthur, girl power," she picked up Gwen's hand and bumped her close fist to it, "See, solidarity!" Arthur shook his head in disbelief and went to the kettle, it was already full from earlier so he whacked the button down.

It was then that Morgana clocked the piles on the counter, "Where did you get all that from?" She asked, poking at one of the discarded pieces of paper.

"Work," she put the leaflet she'd been reading on her 'no' pile, and picked up the next.

Morgana swiped the one Gwen had just be reading and read the title aloud.

She raised her eyebrow and looked at her best friend, "You were seriously considering a class called 'Mommy and Daddy'?"

"It had good information," Gwen defended, not looking up from the new leaflet in her hand.

"It's so American and contrived!"

"Shouldn't you have some sort of pro-American attitude?" Arthur asked. He'd been milling about in the background fiddling with making tea.

"What because I'm Irish and they were our salvation. Oh please!"

"Doesn't Freya live over there now?" Arthur asked out of general interest as he took three mugs out of the cupboard. The amused look on Morgana's face soon drop he mouth set and a glare on her face.

"We don't mention that name. Ever," she stated staring at her brother hoping her would shut up.

"What's wrong with Freya?" he asked, as far as he was aware Freya had been a mutual friend. Having Morgana acting so hostilely towards her confused him. He knew Merlin had a past with her, but surely it was just that and it didn't have any prominence now?

"What's right with her?"

"Morgana!" Gwen chastised, "You can't say that."

"Sure I can. I just did."

"What did she ever do to you?" Arthur asked her, drumming the teaspoon against his hand as he waited for the kettle to finish boiling.

"It's not about what she did to me; it's about what she did to Merlin," Morgana stated, leaning on the counter and fiddling with Gwen's 'yes' pile.

"Doesn't he still talk to her?" Arthur queried, he'd known Merlin to speak of Freya in the past and mention that he'd recently spoken to her a few times, but he didn't know if it was still an occurrence.

"They email each other," Gwen confirmed.

"He's forgiven her. So why are you pissed?" Arthur asked, picking up one of the leaflets, he looked at all of a second before he dropped it again. He didn't understand this need that Gwen had to attend birthing classes, she was a nurse. She had patients go into labour before now, a multitude of times.

"Because somebody should be," Morgana bit back. The kettle clicked and Arthur turned his back on her to carry on, "She phoned him yesterday and now he's been in a depressed mood all day. I phoned him on my lunch break and he was monosyllabic at best."

"It's Merlin, he's hardly eloquent most of the time," Arthur commented stirring in the milk and sugar.

"Arthur!" Gwen reprimanded looking up from the paper in her hand to glare at the back of his blonde head. He shrugged, turned and handed her the cup of got liquid.

"She phones him once a month, tells him something he'll never tell me and he gets upset," Morgana carried on, Arthur had long passed caring, but pretended for Gwen's sake, "Sorry if that makes me a bad person for caring."

"I never said that. You have no reason to hate her," Arthur reasoned passing Morgana her tea and lead her over to the sofa leaving Gwen to study the information.

"What if Lance turned up, or kept bugging Gwen, then I'm sure you'd kick up a fuss," Morgana protested abandoning her tea on the coffee table. Arthur noted Gwen looking over her shoulder at them and he moved the cup onto the coaster, placing his own down on the other.

"Who?" he asked pretending to be nonchalant.

"Arthur, you spent two years being jealous of him when we were seventeen. Don't play ignorant with me," she chastised. Arthur had spent a lot of his existence ignoring Lance's. He'd been some bloke in Gwen's school who she'd dated for a couple of years during sixth form. They'd not made it through the transition to university, much to Arthur's pleasure and he'd not heard the name for a good five years.

"I think his point is he's not letting my past bother him, Morgana. I've moved on, I'm happy," Arthur beamed, "Merlin's moved on with you," as far as Arthur was aware, when Merlin had accepted his job at Albion Freya had been expecting him to take a place he'd been offered over in Chicago so he could be with her. He hadn't wanted to go and it had all resulted in an ugly break up, "He's happy. You should be happy too."

"What if-"

"God, Morgana, let it go. He loves you. You know he still tells me on a daily basis that he told me I was being a prat for insisting you didn't like him. Likes telling me how wrong I was!"

"You're always wrong," Arthur raised and eyebrow and angled his head towards Gwen. After Morgana's constant teasing Arthur had told her everything. It had shut her up completely but she never forgot his outburst.

She had called him on being a womaniser and it had all come out.

"Well she's clearly insane," Morgana replied with a small smile on her face. She was honestly happy that Arthur had gotten his chance. It was painful to watch him. Knowing the sort of person her had turned into Gwen hardly gave him the time of day, only interacting with him because he was her best friend's brother. Morgana always knew that deep down one of the reasons she found him so hard to bare was because she had feelings for him she didn't want to admit to.

"The pregnant lady can hear you. Doesn't make me deaf," she said with her back still to them.

"She's a Mummy in training. She hears everything," he motioned for Morgana to listen and mumbled a hardly audible 'I love you', that even Morgana struggled to hear.

"I love you too," Gwen said casually, she picked up her tea and cradled it in her hands.

"See."

"Adorable," Morgana replied deadpan.

"The point still stands. He loves you. Freya is his past. You're his present and his future. And he's the first boyfriend you've ever had who has made it out of dinner with Dad alive."

"Only because you and your pregnant other half kept his attention," Morgana admitted, not thinking Merlin's ability to keep himself out of trouble with her step-father all that. Even Gwen could put her foot in it with the man, yet he had been making an effort for Arthur's sake to actually be nice for a change.

"Merlin is more than capable at making himself the centre of attention. If Dad hasn't told you to drop him like a hot potato by now, he's doing something right," he shook his head and smirked slightly. He eyed the back of his girlfriends head and laughed, "And Gwen's tied to me now, she's not running off with anybody."

"But-"

"I've already good above the call of brotherly duty by telling you he loves you," Arthur raised his hands in protest, "Don't make me say it again. It might make me heave," Arthur replied light-heartedly, swigging on his tea and draining half the cup.

"Such a charmer."

"Consider it my debt repaid."

Morgana looked at him with a questioning eyebrow. He tilted his head towards Gwen again, "He means me," the younger woman answered, her back still to them and her focus on the last of the leaflets.

"How does she do that?"

"Mummy skill," the couple answered together.

"You two are real creepy, you know that?" Morgana stated reaching over to pick up her tea.

"On the same level, dearest sister."

"It's scary," she stated finally, drinking from her cup to mark her point.

"I don't understand why you want to even go to these things. You're a nurse, you've assisted deliveries," Arthur reasoned over dinner. Sharing the wine with Morgana as Gwen sat with a lemonade. Gwen glared at him across the table, "Forget I said anything," he said hurriedly, holding his hands up in innocence.

"He has a point," Morgana inputted. The pair looked at her astonished. It was rarely known for Morgana to agree with anything Arthur, let alone say he was right, even if she didn't agree, "I don't see the point in you wasting the only free time you have on these things."

"It's all part of it. They tell you how to cope with everything-"

"But you already know it all. You've helped people before. You did a stint in maternity when you were training," Morgana reasoned, frowning at her friend, "Of course, it is different when it's your baby and your life," she added before Gwen could, "But I still think it's a waste of time. Arthur's right."

"Are you feeling alright?" Gwen asked, taking the words from Arthur's mouth.

"Perfectly healthy. You?"

"Bloated and fat."

"Well you are kind of pregnant," Morgana smiled, finishing up the last of her glass.

"I hadn't noticed that, thank you," Gwen said faux gratefully. She finished eating and leant back in her chair, "Why can't you both humour me? I'm the one who's going to be in more pain than you'll ever feel in your life."

"Unless she has children that I already feel sorry for. Especially having Morgana and Merlin as parents!"

"Like your child is any better off!" Morgana complained throwing a stray pea at Arthur's head.

"Blobby has Guinevere. Already better off."

With the August weather setting in, the people of England had resided themselves to the fact that it was going to be a wet one. Again. There were already floods in the west and more rain threatened to fall everyday.

"We are going on holiday," Arthur declared, slamming down a set of house keys down on the kitchen counter as Gwen had her back to him with the kettle in her hand. His father had given them to him after Arthur had mentioned wanting to get away from the city for the long weekend. Another perk of being from a rich family of old wealth. They could afford to keep these things.

"Holiday? I didn't realise you knew how to take a break?" Gwen laughed, not noticing the keys he'd deposited on the counter top behind her. She tipped the milk into the cups, stirring it in. She turned around with the two cups in her hands, handing one out to him.

"I've been reading up and somewhere said to take a break. Said now would be the best time to do it," he replied taking the drink from her.

"And you listened to the book?" She asked with mirth in her voice and an amused smirk on her face.

"Well if you want me to give the keys to the house to Morgana and Merlin," he picked them up from the counter and waved them in front of her face, "I can. We can cover them instead of them covering us."

"No! No, no, no. Nooooo," Gwen grabbed the keys and hugged them to her chest, "Mine."

"So you want to go?" he chided. He put his tea down on the counter.

"Yes!" She put her cup down next to his, wildly gesticulating in front of her, "I'm seeing woods and lakes and cows!"

"Cows?" he teased, moving around her so he trapped her between his body and the counter, arms on either side of her.

"Yeah, cows. And rain."

"Well it's going to be nice," he kissed her on the cheek, "and sunny all the time," he smirked and kissed her on the other.

"Really?" she asked, she asked raising one of her eyebrow, looping her arms around his neck.

"You'll be too hot for clothes," his voice was low, near a growl in the back in his throat.

"I'm always too hot for clothes."

"And yet you wear them so well."

"Even when they make me look like a tent?" Gwen pulled out the edges of her baby-doll top stretching it out to form two corners. Arthur nodded slowly, cheesy grin on his face.

"There does appear to be something between us," he mumbled, looking down at the forced space between them. Both of them snorted a laugh.

"That was awful," Gwen said through her laughter.

"If a little bit funny," Arthur replied, dropping a kiss to her forehead. Gwen lowered her arms and rotated in his grasp picking up her cup of tea and turning back, "And a bit of a mood killer?"

"Yeah," she said into her cup, "I'm going to go and pack."

"We're not going for five days!"

"Helps to be prepared. I need a list, and an inventory, and a checklist," each item she list listed Arthur's eyebrows raised higher on his face, "And I completely messing with you. I'm going to read and have a nap, I'm absolutely shattered."

Gwen retreated into their bedroom only to find her mobile on the bedside table vibrating and flashing Merlin's name on the screen. She frowned at it and reached across the bed to swipe it from the wooden surface.

"Hello?"

"_Hi, Gwen?_"

"Merlin? How are you?" she'd not seen him at work that day, but the day before he'd been in a relatively sombre mood. Gwen had assumed it was for the same reason that Morgana had mentioned before.

"_I've been better._"

"I noticed you'd been a bit down, recently," Gwen enquired, hoping that maybe her friend and old Roomie would open up to her, "Can I do anything to help?"

"_Not_ _really_._ Freya called."_

"Oh really?" Gwen tried to sound as innocent as she could, sitting herself on the edge of the bed.

"_Don't pretend Morgana didn't tell you. I know her."_

"I just wanted to hear it from you," Gwen admitted, falling back into the pillows and closing her eyes against the world, "What did she have to say?"

"_She getting married next month. She's been engaged six months and she never told me," _Merlin told her dejectedly. She imaged him to be sat in his and Morgana's office in the swivel chair just pushing himself around in circles._ "She invited me to the wedding."_

"Seriously?" Gwen opened her eyes then and looked at the ceiling in shock.

"_Would I lie to you?_" truthfully the answer was yes, he would, but for the sake of argument and the current situation, Gwen didn't comment.

"How did she expect you to take that?"

"_I dunno. Better than I did? It's been two years and she still gets to me," _Merlin sounded disappointed in himself. Gwen couldn't understand it. This girl had such a hold on him.

"Why do you think that is?" Gwen asked, she kicked off her shoes and hooked her toes into her socks to remove them as well.

"_Because she was the first person I ever loved? I don't know, she'll always be a part of me, I guess_."

"And Morgana?" Gwen fought with the duvet cover, shifting her body beneath it in the most awkward manner as she balanced the phone between her ear and her shoulder.

"_Complicates things_." Merlin admitted, he still sounded disappointed in himself.

"Complicates them how?"

"_How do I tell her that no matter how much I love her, Freya will always have a part of my heart that belongs to her_?" Gwen knew what he meant. There would always be some tiny, very tiny, part of her that Lance would carry around with him forever. Her heart was well and truly Arthur's, that much she knew, but there was a niggle in her brain that flashed up whenever something reminded her of her past beau.

"This is Morgana we're talking about. Just try saying it, she'll understand."

"_What if she doesn't_?"

"Merlin, we all know that the pair of you pretty much completes the other. I didn't know you before, when you were with Freya, but you were in a pretty bad place when I met you. Now you're nowhere near that place and I don't think Freya could ever put you back in it again, not now you've found somebody else to be happy with."

"_But how do I prove that to Morgana? She's barely spoken to me all day."_

"She's giving you space," Gwen informed him, "Approach her. Let her know you've not forgotten her. Promise she'll talk to you again afterwards."

"_And_ _Freya_?"Merlin asked helplessly.

"Congratulate her, but tell her you won't be going. Work commitments and use Morgana as an excuse," Gwen said, her brain starting to shut off to the world, the lack of oxygen in her system making her yawn. "Actually, don't," she pinched the bridge of her nose, "Or maybe, I don't know, do? Make it clear to Freya you've moved on."

"_And_ _that_ _will_ _make_ _me_ _feel_ _better_?"

"I would think so," what Gwen failed to mention was, if it didn't make Merlin feel better, it would certainly annoy Freya to know that Merlin was happier without her. All Gwen knew about Freya, _really_ was that she made Merlin's life hell about once a month.

"_Right_, _thanks_ _Gwen_."

"Any time."

"_I feel so rude, I didn't ask; how are you?_"

"Much better now you're happier."

"_And Blobby?" _

"Please don't tell me you've been encouraging him!" Gwen said resting her palm flat against her head. She groaned.

"_I didn't say anything to him! It just slips out occasionally," _hepaused_, "Just be grateful the baby picture on the notice board isn't labelled 'Blobby Pendragon'."_

"Who says he/she is having his surname?" Gwen asked as she yawned again.

"_The look in your eye, ex-Roomie. The look in your eye and you waddle across the department floor,"_ Gwen heard shuffling on the other end of the phone, and Merlin greeting whomever had just shown up at his flat, _"I've gotta go. I'll talk to you tomorrow, yeah_?"

"Okay, Merlin. Have a nice night, and I _don't_ waddle!"

"_You_ _do! Bye Gwen._" They both hung up. Gwen placed her mobile on the side table. She cuddled into the duvet and let sleep take her. It didn't take long before she was softly breathing. Dreams of rampant toddlers and geeky teenagers filled her mind, letting her sleep with a small smile on her face.


	11. Little Getaway

**Part Ten**

It was beautiful. The trees were in full plume, with an array of wild flowers in the woodlands. There was a breeze over the water that was cooling in the summer heat. In the midst of all things, Guinevere Leodegrance knew she was incredibly lucky; currently stood in the arms of her partner without as much as a care in the world.

Well, maybe one:

"I'm not calling it Junior," Gwen stated sternly as she looked out over the lake, Arthur standing behind her with his arms tucked around her midriff, gently massaging his hands over her baby bump.

"Good job I was joking," Arthur laughed into her ear.

They stood silently for a minute, listening to the nature that surrounded them. It felt strange to be away from the hubbub of the Emergency Room and the city. Gwen was in no hurry to get back, taking every moment they had there for what it was worth; enjoying every second of their time together.

"What about Daisy?" Gwen asked breaking the silence. Arthur had an image of a small blonde girl throwing Lego bricks at him in pre-school and he shuddered. She was an evil child and there was no way he was naming his little girl after her.

"No."

"Why not?" They'd been playing this game for hours and had still come no closer to any conclusions.

He wasn't about to admit to discarding a name because a girl used to pick on him when he was three, "Just no."

"Chris?" Arthur had no reason to dislike the name; he just didn't want something quite so common.

"No."

"Thomas."

"No," he didn't want to name their child after any of their parents, it wouldn't seem right and it could get mightily confusing.

"Ava?"

"Stop switching genders," he chastised jokingly as he placed a soft kiss to the sensitive spot behind her ear.

"I'm just saying them as they come to me," Gwen divulged. She turned her head to look at him and placed a soft kiss to his lips, "I think Ava is pretty."

"Agreed. It's a nice name. Ava Leodegrance-Pendragon?" Arthur enquired leaning away from her slightly so he could focus on her face without going cross eyed.

"Ava Pendragon," Gwen confirmed, with a sedate smile on her face, "It's cruel to give a child a seven syllable surname."

"Really?" Arthur implored with a smile on his face. Gwen had decided that Merlin had had a point. She didn't intend on her child growing up with one parent. Nor did she intend to live her own life without Arthur.

"Mhmm," she smiled, a giggle of a laugh escaped her lips before Arthur stooped, tilting her chin with his finger and placed a kiss to her lips.

* * *

They walked down the small path that led towards the brook side. Gwen was wearing pair of bright purple Wellingtons over her maternity adjusted skinny jeans along with a baby doll shirt in the warm weather.

Arthur hopped down the small ledge and held out a hand to Gwen. She took it and looked for an appropriate way to step down without creating too much of a hard landing. Arthur smirked and turned to face her completely, placing her hand around his shoulder, making her crouch. He hooked his other arm around her knees and lifted her from the muddy ledge.

She squealed, quickly getting her other hand to clasp to his shoulder.

"You're a lump, you know that?" Arthur joked as her slowly swung her around to carry on their walk.

Gwen batted him on the back with a smile on her face, "If I'm too heavy you could always put me down."

"And not be your knight in shining armour?"

"Not Prince Charming?"

"Prince Arthur? I like it, him too," Gwen wriggled in his arms, kicking out her feet, "Stay still," he adjusted his grip, holding her tighter to his chest.

"You know, the point of a walk in the countryside is to _walk_, right?"

"Where's the fun in that?" Gwen squirmed again, "Fine, I'll put you down," he gently lowered her feet back to the ground and kept an arm around her shoulder to ensure she was balanced.

She stood and looked up at him with a blissful smile on her face. Gwen swallowed the lump in her throat and studied his tranquil features. She'd never seen him look quite so calm. Not in his comfort zone and not by cover of the hospital, not stressed and no immediate need to be anywhere or do anything.

With blue locked on brown he frowned slightly, "What?" Gwen gently shook her head not breaking eye contact with him. He laughed slightly. He leant down, tilting his head to kiss her. Gwen stopped him an inch away, smile on her face remaining.

"I love you," she moved to close the gap only to have him keep it again.

"I love you too," he moved to kiss her this time.

"Urgh!"

"Yuk!"

The pair of them looked towards the two voices to see a pair of kids, no older than six and eight.

"That's grooooosssss!" the youngest elongated from behind the tree.

"Shut up, Troy!" the elder one shouted, hitting who the couple assumed was his brother around the back of the head.

"Hey, there's not need for that," Arthur commanded, still with his arms around his girlfriend.

"Sorry Mister," the oldest boy said looking at the floor and digging his toe into the dirt.

"What are you kids doing out here on your own anyway?" Gwen asked, shifting away from Arthur and approaching the kids who were stood up on the ledge Arthur had carried her down from minutes before.

"Playing hide and seek," the younger boy answered coming out from behind the tree.

"On your own?"

"We were playing with the older boys," Troy replied again, "But we hid for ages and they never came. Scotty came to find me and we got lost."

"Where are you guys staying?" Arthur asked approaching the kids after Gwen.

"Over in the campsite by the lake," Arthur knew it, he'd made some friends in the place when he was younger and he'd been dragged with his family on holiday or small weekend breaks they took to the house.

"Come on, we'll take you back," Arthur offered, Scotty's face brightened slightly before he frowned at the man before him.

"How do we know you're not going to kill us?"

"I'm a doctor. She's a nurse. People trust us with their lives. _You_ can trust us to take you back to camp," Arthur reasoned only to have the boy continue to squint at him, "I'm _not_ going to kill you."

"Okay, but – just so you know – I can scream really loud so don't try nothing."

"We won't," Arthur reassured.

"Thank you, sir," Scotty mumbled, dragging his brother by the arm to his side.

Gwen and Arthur made their way back up the ledge, having to walk around and up a shallower hill and back to the two boys.

"Excuse me, lady?" the eldest of the two boys called out as they walked. Gwen looked at him with a friendly smile on her face.

"Gwen," she introduced, her fingers interlocked with Arthur's as they walked through the trees and under brush towards the camp site.

"Gwen," he smiled, "Troy wants to know if you have a baby in your tummy," her smile widened as she grinned at the two boys, one hand resting over her shirt as they walked back towards the edge of the woods.

"Yeah," she answered, squeezing Arthur's hand.

"How did it get there?" Arthur coughed, choked on his own breath, Gwen's grip on his hand tightened as she laughed lightly.

"I think that is something you should ask your Mum," she answered feeling it wasn't her place to tell them.

The youngest boy whispered something to his brother, "Troy says he thinks that when you touch mouths that the baby is given from Daddy to Mummy."

"Something like that," Gwen smiled. She looked at Arthur, he was a doctor; things like this shouldn't make him so uncomfortable. She tugged on his hand and he looked at her, "You're gunna have to answer these questions one day."

"Yeah, in like eighteen years," he replied nodding in the direction of the two boys. He could never remember his own father sitting him down and telling him about 'the bird and the bees'. It had been something that Uther had left to somebody else, mainly his son's school, which according to the senior Pendragon had done more than enough in his education.

Gwen shot him an incredulous look, "Plenty of time to prepare an answer then."

"And if they ask you?"

"I'll send them to you, naturally," she laughed only to have her attention pulled back to the two young boys.

"Are you married?" Troy asked innocently walking beside his brother as they neared the edge of the wood.

"No, we're not," Arthur stated to them, looking at Gwen. She was looking at the two boys with a smile on her face.

"Not yet," she added. A warmth swelled in Arthur's chest. They were getting there, they really were. One day he'd build up the courage to ask her, but until then, he just felt lucky to have her.

"Are you allowed to have babies when you aren't married?" he asked as he jumped over a tree root. Arthur went to answer when the young boy ended up landing knees first. He cried out and tears started pouring down his face.

Arthur dropped Gwen's hand and headed over to the young boy, "What hurts, buddy?" he asked, crouching down in front of him.

"My knee, it really hurts," he managed through his tears, his breath caught in his throat as he tried to breathe through his tears. He pulled it up and looked at his knee to see a gasp on his leg dribbling blood down his leg, the sight of the red made him cry harder.

"Here," Gwen handed Arthur a tissue which he quickly ran up the boys leg and held to his knee.

"Can you hold that in place, Troy?" he asked, moving his hand so the boy could hold it down. He nodded vigorously through his tears and held it firmly to his knee, "Have you got anything else?" Arthur asked Gwen, she shook her head, "Okay, buddy, I'm going to help you into camp okay. You see that over there?" he pointed to a row of tents, "That's the edge of the camp."

"'Kay," the small boy nodded, his tears gradually stopping.

"Keep pressure on your knee and we'll get you back to your Mum, okay?"

"'Kay."

"Scott? Troy?" A woman called. Gwen looked to see a feminine figure heading into the woods with a teenage boy in tow.

"Over here!" Gwen called out, waving her arm in the air. The woman saw her and hurried over, shouting at the older boy as they approached. The teenager was looking at the forest floor, dragging his feet.

"Mummy!" Troy shouted letting go of the tissue. It was stuck to the blood. Arthur reached to hold it back on, "Oh, sorry," the little boy clasped his small hands to the tissue.

"Hi, I'm Mrs Wexler," the woman mentioned in a clipped tone not offering her hand to either of the other adults.

"Doctor Pendragon," Arthur offered in return, "he fell over when we were showing them back to the camp."

"Thank you," she squinted at him and turned to her eldest son, "Danny here thought it would be funny to send them off to hide and leave them on their own," she glared at him, who on closer inspection looked about sixteen.

"I didn't think they'd do it," the teen mumbled talking at his feet.

"We'll they're back now," Arthur offered with a polite smile on his face.

"Danny, take your brother back to camp. Clean him up. You should have kept an eye on him," Arthur handed off Troy to the teenager, offering him a reassuring smile and ordering him to make sure the boy kept his hand on the tissue.

"Scotty, come here," his mother ordered, eyeing Arthur suspiciously through still-squinted eyes, "I'm sorry if they bothered you," she said curtly, "Come on, Scott. Let's go."

She hurried the boy off back towards the camp without casting a look backwards. Gwen raised her eyebrows and let out a long exasperated breath, "If I end up like her, please shoot me."

"Certainly," Arthur agreed looking down at her.

"Not so much as a thank you," Gwen commented turning around and walking back the other way.

"I think she thought I was a pedo," Arthur mentioned contemplatively before he shrugged his shoulders and took Gwen's hand back in his own.

"A pedo with a pregnant girlfriend and a doctorate? You don't exactly _look_ like a pedo."

"If a pedo looked like a pedo they'd never do any pedoing!" Gwen laughed, interlocking her fingers with his and carrying on back towards the house they were staying in. Uther's house that he had allowed them to live in for the weekend.

"You know what I mean."

"She was worried about her kids," Arthur said, swinging their hands between them, "I feel sorry for the other kid. He's going to get a bollucking for letting his brothers near a pedo and his pregnant girlfriend."

"I'm sure she didn't think that," she mused looking up at the sky through the canopy of the trees.

"I bet you any name you like she did."

"Really?"

"Actually, no, knowing you you'll name Blobby 'Ewan McGregor the Second' and he'll be doomed."

"And that's worse than Blobby?"

"It is if you're me."

* * *

Gwen walked down another corridor and finally found the main room she was looking for after wondering around for five minutes completely confused. The house was a maze. More often than not Gwen found herself in the wrong corridor or opening the wrong door. She could have sworn every time she went to use the bathroom she used a different one.

"You know, most people's holiday homes are smaller than their actual house."

"It is," Arthur stated looking up from the book he was reading to look at her, "Smaller than the country house anyway," he reasoned with a laugh.

"I swear that place is a palace, or a castle or something like that," Gwen laughed pushing Arthur's feet off the end on the sofa and sat down. He went to move his feet back to rest on her lap, "Try it and I'll bite you."

"Tempting," he smirked. He checked the page number and dropped his book onto the table beside him. He moved down the sofa to sit next to Gwen, he leant his arm on the back of the sofa, sitting on his foot with his leg on the sofa facing her, "How about we skip that part?"

Gwen grinned and leant forwards to kiss him. With the arm that was resting on the sofa cushions, Arthur reached forwards to tangle his hand in her loose hair, pulling her closer to him. With his other hand he guided her legs around so she was facing him.

"Mmm, Arthur," she mumbled against his lips. Reluctantly he pulled away.

"Sorry," he hung his head slightly before he looked at her.

"No, don't be sorry, it's just, uh," she cleared her throat, and look down at her hands as she pulled on her ring on her right hand. Arthur noticed the movement, he rarely noticed her wear it anymore, but she always did. His eyes drifted to her left hand briefly and noted again that it was still bare, "The sofa isn't as comfortable as the bed."

* * *

In Arthur's opinion, best thing about being in the middle of nowhere in a house that was surrounded by fields and a lake was that you could walk around completely stark naked without being seen.

"Wakey, wakey, rise and shine," Arthur called out walking back into their bedroom for the weekend with two cups of tea in his hands without a stitch of clothing on.

Gwen stirred; she wiped her eyes and turned to face him as the bed sank beside her, "What time is it?"

"Just after ten," he offered. Gwen pushed herself up in the bed, leaning against the head board, she adjusted the duvet about herself and accepted the cup of tea. She balanced it on her baby bump and took a sip.

"That's perfect, thank you."

"Anything for my perfect girlfriend," he grinned. He handed her his cup and climbed over her. She tried to balance the near full cup.

"Arthur, careful," she said sternly as he bounced the mattress crawling under the sheet.

"I distinctly remember you saying that last night," he shot her pert look as he settled. She shot him an incredulous look as she passed him her tea, "Thank you," he pressed a sweet kiss to her bare shoulder.

"What is the plan for today?" Gwen asked tipping her cup again to take another sip.

"I was thinking of heading back about six so you can sleep in the car on the way back and we'll get back about nine, maybe ten. I don't mind what we do until then."

"Maybe we could just relax, spend the day curled up with a good book and a constant supply of tea?"

"And who would be making this tea?"

"You?" she smiled into her cup slurring more of the brown liquid.

"Oh really?" he asked, placing his own cup down on the side, shifting onto his side to look at her.

"You do it so well," she smirked, looking down at him.

He slipped one hand underneath the duvet and traced his finger from her knee up the inside of her bare leg. He felt her muscle flex beneath his touch her back going a little straighter, "That's not the only thing I'm good at."

She visibly swallowed which planted a smirk on Arthur's face. He pushed himself up to kiss her. She moved to place her tea on the bedside table not even half drunk. He ran his tongue over her lip and moved his hand further up her thigh. She gasped into his mouth as he massaged a finger over her clit in a series of strokes.

Gwen modified her position on the bed to run her own hand under the sheets to start her own one handed gratification adventure. She took his already hardening cock in her hand and began her own teasing strokes as he continued to massage at her centre without entering into her.

With one particularly pleasing move on his fingers Gwen's hips involuntarily bucked against his hand. She looked him in the eye, watching his expression as she fastened her pace on his erection.

Her head lolled against her pillow as he entered a finger into her, her core begging for his attention to stay within her, as it did when he pushed another finger into her. She moved in tandem to his fingers, working her hand over his own excitement as he returned the favour.

Tea going cold and forgotten, the pair of lovers hit the spot, with one final buck of her hips, the energy Gwen had preserved from sleeping left her leaving her a rest-less mess and in want of nothing more than to crawl up back to sleep again.

Gwen reached past her cold tea to pull a couple of issues from the box. She cleaned up her own hand and passed the other tissue to Arthur. Once satisfied, she screwed up both tissues together and launched them at the bin beside the radiator.

"Now what was it you said about relaxing?" Arthur asked nuzzling his nose into the crook of her neck, spooning her, holding her close to him.

"Relaxing with a good book and a satisfied sex drive," she adjusted, "And with the threat of velociraptors gone I can sleep without worrying that they're going to eat me."

Arthur quietly agreed to her conclusion before it dawned on him what she had said, "Wait, what?"

"Jurassic Park dream. There was long grass and raptors, followed by slushies and a shopping centre," she mumbled into her pillow, tracing her fingers gently over his knuckles.

"Somebody has spent far too much time watching TV," he gently hooked one of his fingers around hers and massaged small circles on the back of her hand.

"More than likely," she yawned, mumbling out her garbled words as she fell asleep against one of his arms that was acting as her pillow.

* * *

"What about Hope?" Arthur asked as he presented Gwen with another cup of tea. They were due to leave in another hour after they had spent the remainder of the day how Gwen had originally planned after waking up at midday.

"No. Any child I have ever treated that was called Hope, or Destiny or Charity or _Angel _has died a horrible death. I'm not doing that to my child," Arthur contemplated it, she had a point. The last child he had had die on his watch had been a seven year old girl called Chastity. She'd been kidnapped and raped before being found and had died on the table.

"No, better not," Arthur concluded, "Angie? Angela? Angelina?"

"Never really got along with this one nurse I knew when I was training who simultaneously went by all three names at once," Gwen admitted, and what made it worse, the woman had had the worse moustache in the world and a mole with a giant hair growing out of it. She was repulsive in nature as well which made her near unbearable.

"Abigail?"

"That nurse up in the ICU that just had a baby called her little girl Abbie," Gwen said as if it was the most obvious reason not to call a child by the name.

"It's a shame we know a Freya," Arthur recalled, "I quite like the name."

"I think Morgana would maim, quarter, oil and fry us if we did," Arthur sighed at his sister's need, accidental or purposeful, to ruin all his plans. She had been that way all their lives, a thorn in his side from the age of four when she stole his toy sword and refused to give it back.

"I bet she's still got it," Arthur grumbled.

"Who's got what?" Gwen enquired her brow furrowing in confusion.

"Never mind. What about Rosie?" He asked, racking his brain for any example he could give against it and finding none.

"She was the crazy cat lady on mine and Merlin's street."

"Seriously? You had a crazy cat lady?"

"We had a crazy cat lady. She was lovely, don't get me wrong, but she was crazy as a box of gerbils."

"How many cats did she have?"

"About twenty? They all had the same name," Gwen laughed, "All called Patchwork the Third."

* * *

A car past with its full beams still on, "Turn them off you wanker," Arthur mumbled under his breath and he flashed his own at the offending car. He'd have shouted but Gwen was asleep in the seat next to him, the headlights illuminating her face as the car past.

"Inconsiderate bastards," he blinked a few times in quick succession. Blinded by the light with his eyes watering slightly.

"Robin would be a good name, boy or girl," He said to himself as he continued on the drive back to the capital city, "Though I guess boys wouldn't be as appreciative. Still," he carried on talking to himself as he drove, keeping himself occupied as Gwen slept and he played classic fm on the radio to soothe her.

"And you know, I quite like flowery names. I could see myself having a few daughters all with flowery names. Like Rose, and Lily and Poppy; just not Daisy," he shuddered, "Maybe, I dunno. Boys are harder, I think anyway. You get all the old names like Colin that would be good names when their older, but could you imagine calling a baby Colin? Or Russell. Then there are names that sound good for a baby, but not older people, like Alfie or Archie. Though, Archie is quite a good name," he rambled to himself as he approached the motorway.

He sighed and stifled a yawn. He still had another few hours of driving to go before he could tuck himself up in bed and sleep through until tomorrow. He looked over at Gwen as a light flashed over her sleeping form, and he wondered which god had bless him with a gift as good as her.

**Shameless references to Primeval, Being Human and Jurassic Park =] I couldn't help it.**


	12. The Name Game

**Part Eleven**

Doctor Morgana Le Fey stood watching her step-brother and best friend arguing at the admit desk. They'd been at it now for the last five minutes. It was totally inane. At twenty-two weeks you'd have thought they may have started a shortlist of names for their unborn child; but Morgana (and the rest of the Emergency Department), had soon learnt that as a couple they preferred to keep it complicated.

Arthur had had his turn and now it was Gwen who was spouting random names at him for him to shoot down like an enemy aircraft; "How about Lilah?" she suggested.

"No," Arthur said for the fifth time in a row.

"Tegan?"

"No."

"Ashley?"

"No."

"Ruby?"

"No."

"Sarah?"

"Too common."

"Bella?"

Arthur groaned as if he were in horrible pain and Gwen swatted at him.

"_Isabella_?"

"No."

"Rosalie?" Morgana stuck her nose up at that one, not that they were paying enough attention of her to notice.

"No," _oh thank God,_ Morgana thought to her herself as she enjoyed watching the show.

"Victoria? Tori!" Gwen said as if it were the best idea she'd had in her lifetime.

"No," it was a shame, Tori Pendragon didn't sound that bad in Morgana's mind. Didn't quite work with Emrys. Not that she was looking that far ahead. She never had before; she wasn't going to start now. Besides, she didn't want a kid just because her brat of a brother was having one. She'd get there was she was good and ready (and when Merlin suggested it first.)

"Susannah?"

"No."

"Katie," _Traditionalish, pretty, I approve._ Morgana thought smiling to herself.

"No," _Or not,_ Morgana huffed ignoring the poking that was happening to her left shoulder. She could hear Merlin talking to her but she wanted to know what her idiot brother was turning down and had tuned him out after a lot of practise.

"Louisa."

"No."

"Fine. I give up. You know we might _have_ to take Merlin up on his suggestion box idea," Gwen declared handing Arthur the chart for Mrs Peters in curtain three, "She demanded to see 'The Doctor with the nice hands and the pretty eyes', but I suppose you'll do."

"It's like watching sport," Morgana mused and finally turned her attention to Merlin.

"What is?" Merlin asked looking non-the-wiser to the situation.

"Oh never mind," Morgana took the chart he had been attempting to hand her for the last minute, along with the other two he currently held in his possession.

* * *

In the summer heat, the two medic adults sat in the setting sunlight with the small balcony doors opened. A light breeze filtered through the Kensington apartment, cool enough to allow the residents to be curled under a thin sheet on the plush sofa.

"Laura?" the male suggested, eyes closed, his voice distant in his exhaustion.

"Noooo," Gwen drew out, cuddled into her partner's safe embrace.

"Jacqueline?" Arthur threw out, trying to remember Morgana's bookcase as a child.

"No."

"Jane?" so far so bad; none of Morgana's books were helping him so far.

"No traditional names," Arthur sighed; having exhausted the bookcase, he imagined the overly large video and DVD collection the pair of them had unsuccessfully shared as children, trying to pluck any number of names from thin air.

"Fine. Jasmine?" he said, mentioning the lead female of his favourite Disney film.

"No."

"Tiana," which was Morgana's of late. She said something about Tiana reminding her very much of Gwen in her attitude and personality and – for once – Arthur had been inclined to agree with her.

"No," that rejection was a shame to Arthur. He rather liked the name, but he could see why she'd said it.

"Ariel?" he said with a smile on his lips as the last of the summer sun bathed their faces in it's dying light.

"No Disney names," Gwen laughed slapping her hand down on Arthur's chest with no more than a soft thud.

"Lois?"

"Mention Clark and I'll make it impossible for you to have any more children, savvy?" Gwen opened her eyes and looked up to scour Arthur's serene face. She ran her hand down his chest and over his stomach before he stopped her hand. He knew fully well that she didn't intend for him to get any pleasure from her touch had her hand reached its destination.

"Kal-el?" he yelped as Gwen jabbed him in the side sharply.

"Or kryptonian names."

"I'm impressed," she poked him again, "Okay, okay; Hayley?" he suggested, not really thinking the name the one for them, but it had been the first one he had thought of without any stimulus.

"Better."

* * *

"Hazel?" Gwen stopped chopping the onion and looked up at him with a thoughtful expression on his face. She waved the knife in her hand around as she did so before she decided.

"Mmm, no," she went back to cutting up the root vegetable, a skill so practised that her eyes no longer watered.

"Eliza?"

"No," point blank. The only Eliza Gwen had ever known had been her primary school bully. Not a particularly pleasant girl and not one Gwen would want to honour in the name of her child.

"Willow?" Gwen looked up to see a small contemplative smile on Gwen's face and she was all to aware exactly which namesake he was thinking of. She threw a piece of chopped pepper across the room at him; missing him by a mile but making him look at her instead.

"Not bad," the tone in her voice was enough to make him stand up and pretend that he could help her prepare their dinner without killing them both. He looked down at his mobile and searched the screen for another name he hadn't tried already.

"Aria?"

"Where the hell are you getting these names from?"

"Internet," Arthur stated waving his Blackberry at her. She couldn't help but laugh.

"No," she replied after considering the name for a second. She presented him with a small tub of mushrooms and another chopping knife. Surely even Arthur couldn't bodge this up?

"What do I do?" Arthur asked. Gwen mocked him, wordlessly chopping the mushroom into thick slices with her own knife. He smiled, embarrassed. He placed his phone down on the counter having exited the internet in favour of helping, "What about boys?"

"David?"

"No," he said without even thinking about it. Everybody might know a 'Dave' but he sure as hell wasn't naming any child of his after the television channel or the builder who lived three floors up.

"Daniel?"

"No."

"Ewan," she threw out there with the intent to do so until Arthur accepted it.

"Is this just so you can think about McGregor on a daily basis?" Arthur asked halting his chopping chore to scrutinize her.

"No," she replied guiltily, "It's a nice name!"

"Fine," he replied, still suspicious of her intentions, "maybe."

"Alex?"

"Lexie!"

Gwen looked up, that hadn't been the expected response. If anything she'd expected another 'maybe'.

"What?"

"For a girl: Alexandria," Arthur said, loving the idea of the name for his little girl. It would suit her from the day she was born until the day she was old and wrinkled, "Lexie."

"I like it," she nodded. One argument was moderately over; now for the battle for a middle name.

"Yeah, me too," he leant over and kissed her chastely on the lips, a smile on his face when he turned his attention back to the mushrooms in front of him. He frowned at them, _why could he not be gifted with the talent of cooking?

* * *

_

"Patients start here," Sophia introduced, gesturing to the admit desk and waiting area, "You sign them in and start working through them in order of arrival. If it's more urgent - say they're losing a vast amount of blood - let them through. Find them a bed and get them seen."

Sophia continued to run through protocol with a new, younger, blonder, brighter looking nurse.

"Ah, this is Gwen, she's been here a couple of years now, longer than most of us, actually. You could learn a lot from her," not used to receiving a compliment from Sophia Gwen smiled and accepted it, giving a short wave to the other nurse.

"Who's he?" Vivian asked pointing behind Gwen. She followed her finger over her shoulder to Arthur and smirked. He was talking to an old lady about the solution to her allergy to her new kitten.

"That's Arthur Pendragon. He's in charge of the department," Gwen answered, with her hands resting on her lower back.

"Are there any rules about doctors and nurses?"

"No," Sophia admitted, "But there are against men cheating on their pregnant girlfriends and girlfriends in general," she added nodding towards Gwen. Vivian looked positively abashed by the news. The look on her face reading 'her?' better than any expletive comment. Gwen smiled and waved her fingers at her. She tried not to laugh at the smile on Sophia's face, "Anyway," Sophia led the new girl away from admit. She looked back over her shoulder and mouthed an apology to Gwen.

Gwen just laughed, "Who was that?" She looked up to see Arthur now finished with the old lady who was now waiting on her prescription that he had promised her.

"New nurse. Likes the look of you."

"Really? Maybe I should see how many of the nurses I can pull," he started to walk away from the desk after the pair of retreating nurses. Gwen grabbed his hand as he did, pulling him back around to face her, "Or I could just stay here."

"Mhmm," she nodded with a smirk on her face. He kissed her briefly on the lips.

"How are you?"

"I'm fine and Ewan is well, moving around a bit, but fine," Arthur shook his head with a smile.

"No."

"Oh, come on, it's a good name!" Gwen protested a pout on her face.

"No, don't pull that look on me. I'm helpless to that look."

"That's meant to make me stop?"

* * *

"Okay. So, boys?" Merlin asked, as they sat around a too small table in a tucked away corner of their local pub. It was a quiet Thursday night with only the darts game in the corner making more than a little noise.

"Ray?" Morgana asked. Gwen shot her a look; there was no way she was naming this child after some punk rocker doctor that her best friend wished existed.

"No," Arthur concluded taking a swig from his pint.

"Noah?"

"No," Gwen refused. Morgana sighed, there was her suggestions out of the window. She had tried reinstating 'Katie' into the mix earlier only to be told they had a girl's name and they weren't changing their minds. If only to save more arguments.

"Arthur!" Arthur asked gleefully only to be greeted by a stony glare from his partner, "I'll take that as a no?"

"No way, honey, not a chance," she patronizingly patted him on the arm, taking her drink into her hand as the waitress appeared with their food in her hands. She dished it out to the appropriate people and disappeared again to retrieve the remainder of the meals.

"Gareth?" Merlin suggested as he sat without a plate in front of him. He didn't even long for the meat filled plates his friends had, preferring a vegetarian pasta dish

"No," both parents denied together as they unwrapped their cutlery. Arthur swiped the mushrooms from Gwen's plate and dished over the black pudding from his. Gwen pointed at her plate frantically with her fork. Arthur looked to see he'd missed one offending mushroom and stabbed it harshly.

"Paul?" Morgana said looking at the shorter barman behind the bar, he was always happy and a little bit over-jolly, it would be a good personality to live up to.

"Meh," Gwen managed through her mouthful.

"Martin?" Merlin added playing the same game as Morgana only he was looking at usually taller, seated barman. He had an order pad in his hand and a pen in the other as he poked fun at the shorter male.

"No," though a thoroughly pleasant guy, she didn't want 'Marty' as her eldest heir and the one who would be choosing her nursing home in fifty years.

"Matthew?" Morgana said as the waitress gave her and Merlin their food, "Cheers."

"Matty?" Arthur suggested to Gwen, she looked back at him, trying to see herself calling their child that name for the rest of their lives.

"Yeah?" she agreed slowly.

"No," Merlin shook his head stuffing a hot chip into his mouth without complaining that it was too hot and shaking his hand in front of his mouth as if it would actually do anything to remotely help.

"No," Morgana agreed, this was her nephew, or niece, they were talking about, "Urm-"

* * *

The department was quiet, dead one could say, so Arthur decided he'd take the opportunity to escape the cold confines of the deserted emergency department and go across the street with Gwen to grab a coffee and have a break.

"I still like Ewan," she stated as they stood waiting for their order to come. The night staff were particularly sluggish in this place. Gwen could never understand the point of having a twenty-four hour store, but she wasn't going to complain when she got to have hot chocolate at four in the morning.

"You would," Arthur responded, his arm around her waist. He prodded her in the side

"Drew?" Not quite traditional but with a 'nice strong name' that would please Uther.

"Too Neighbours."

Gwen snorted a laugh, "You watched Neighbours?"

"You didn't?" it had been a pivotal part of his childhood and student days. Whenever they'd hung out in the SU after lectures Neighbours had been on and back when he was a kid it had been on before The Simpsons and after Blue Peter so he might as well watch it.

"Dylan?" He looked at her, wondering if she knew she'd chosen another character name from the Australian soap. The smirk on her face told him likewise.

"No."

"Ewan," she said for the fifth time and smiled at the barista behind the counter presented them with their drinks. She coyly looked over her hot chocolate up at him, smirk on her face.

Arthur thanked the lady for his double shot riddled coffee. She returned to looking bored. Arthur handed her a couple of loose pound coins he had in his pocket, "Get one on us, okay?"

"I hate coffee."

"Then buy a pint," Arthur offered with an amused smile and turned back to Gwen, "You're never going to drop that are you?"

"No," Gwen said opening the front door to the shop. The very early morning air hit them as they exited, strangely fresh for London and tinged with warmth. Soon the sun would be rising and they would be free to go home and sleep for the rest of the day after their shift had dragged of what felt like double the amount of time.

"What if I find a better name?" Arthur asked as they crossed the empty road.

"You won't," Gwen replied smugly, taking a swig from her fresh hot chocolate.

"I might."

The whir of an ambulance siren sounded through the street. On rounding the corner of the Ambulance Bay the expecting couple could already see Leon and William in trauma gear ready to accept it.

"We got two on the way in," Leon reported, "Motorcycle versus drunk," Arthur handed his cup to Gwen and accepted the gown that Sophia handed his way.

"Gwen, suit up," Arthur ordered.

She nodded and retreated into the hospital slowly enough to hear Sophia object, "She shouldn't-"

Arthur's reply was polite but firm, "She doesn't need coddling, Sophia, she's more than capable," Gwen smiled to herself, relishing in the last swig of hot chocolate that she was going to get before it no doubt went cold during the trauma that was just rolling into the bay.

She placed the two cups behind the reception desk and headed to Trauma One. She found another nurse already waiting in the second trauma room. She pulled out a set of small rubber gloves and pulled them on. She readied herself for the oncoming slaughter and prepared to work on which ever victim came her way.

It was cases like this that she didn't know who to feel more sorry for, the run over or the runner down, considering it wasn't their fault the drunk had probably stepped into the road. Then again, one couldn't judge the drunk until she knew the story. It was four in the morning on a Monday, nobody would be out at this time unless they needed to be.

Or worked at the hospital.

Gwen watched Arthur lead the motorcyclist into the next room, Sophia with him. She couldn't help but think that it was a ploy to allow Gwen to get on with her job without the other nurse interfering. That paired with his want of not annoying Gwen to the nth degree.

"What have we got?" she asked Leon as he wheeled the drunk into the trauma room before her. She presented him with a pair of gloves and handed a pair to Viv. She had one of those annoyingly shiny personalities but she meant no harm; most of the time.

"Hit by a motorcycle, suspected broken pelvis and scapula, head trauma," Leon tossed a wallet in Gwen's direction. She opened it to find a driving licence; on which came a name and address.

"Fredrick Gilbert," Gwen said, looking at the address, "I'll call the admit desk, get whomever is there to track down family."

"Hi, I need you to try and track down a family for one Fredrick Gilbert. He lives at 145 Wetherby Gardens, Kensington. By the looks of it he has a wife and small child, but the photo could be old," Gwen reasoned. She saw the happy smiles on the three of their faces, and the ring on his 'wife's' hand. Gwen knew better than assume that children meant married, "Thanks Catrina, can you patch them through when you get a hold of them. Thanks."

* * *

They'd been working on him for thirty minutes before his wife had gotten there. In her arms she held a three year old girl who had fallen asleep against her shoulder.

"Vivian, could you show Mrs Gilbert to the family room, give her somewhere for the child to sleep. She shouldn't be seeing this," Leon ordered, the mother thanked him, adjusting her hold on her little girl and looking at the two nurses expectantly.

"Why not give her to Gwen?" the blonde nurse complained.

"What because she's better with kids?" Leon asked sarcastically, knowing exactly the reason why.

"No because she's pregnant," Vivian shot back. Gwen rolled her eyes and continued to mill about collecting the equipment Leon needed along with making sure everything remained in order.

"And with that, you just earned the task for certain, can you take her to the family room, _now_," Leon ordered, as Gwen prepared the stomach for the cut it needed. Surgery were on the way down but it he didn't act now it could kill the man on the table, Surgery could bitch at him later when the guy was still alive.

* * *

His wife had returned pretty quickly, but in the time she had Surgery had made there way into the trauma room – finally - had complained at Leon, like he knew they would, and had deemed 'Freddie' stable enough to take upstairs.

"Nice work team," Leon thanked, "I'd best go get Vivian to take the kid up. Sorry about her, Gwen."

"She's young. She'll soon learn that experience trumps idiotism." Gwen smiled as Leon laughed.

He paused in the doorway and his eyes twinkled at her. "Have you ever considered the name Leon?"

"Happy with Gwen, thanks, besides how confusing would that be?"

Leon rolled his eyes, "I'll take that as a no."

They left the trauma room together and went their separate ways.

* * *

The carriage of the tube was oddly empty considering the time. People were usually on their way to work at this time in the morning so there was usually people already starting to cram onto the train.

It gave them the chance to sit down and relax on the short journey they had from the hospital to their home.

Gwen curled into Arthur side with a smile on her face. He had his fingers splayed against her midriff gently rubbing small circles over the soft fabric of her top.

"What about Bradley?

Gwen shook her head, "Kid in secondary school called Bradley used to follow me everywhere. It was kinda creepy."

"But completely understandable."

"It was really awkward, he was in all my classes and somehow all the teachers managed to seat him next to me or near me. I used to get notes. And on valentines they would do this 'send a rose' thing for charity. Every year from year nine to thirteen I got one from him without fail."

"That's sweet."

"The poetry was creepy," she said nuzzling into the crook of his neck as the train screeched.

They both winced; "Nice."

"He was probably lovely, but he creeped me out too much."

"Then you got the hunky boyfriend and he left you alone?" Arthur replied, hardly able to contain the bite in his tone.

"Hunky, really?"

"It's a perfectly good word."

"That you're using in relation to my ex, and talk about living in the past."

"I do _not_ live in the past."

"Of course not," She rolled her eyes, "And no. He used to tell me how wrong for me Lance was. That he'd never love me the way he did."

"Should have gotten a restraining order."

"Why do you think the attentions stopped?" she said lifting her head from his shoulder to look at him the picture of seriousness.

"You're joking," Gwen tried her hardest to keep her expression stony but soon failed and laughed.

"Yeah. He tried to arrange to go to the same uni as me but didn't get in. Thus his plans were thwarted."

"But then you were single, he could have had his chance," Arthur jibed with a cheeky smile on his face.

"You're not funny."

"Am so," he prodded her in the side.

"You see how he treats me Ewan?" she asked her stomach and looked back at Arthur, "You should be grateful I didn't submit. He probably would have never let me leave him and either killed me or locked me in a dungeon."

"Well thank you for resisting his creepy charms. I certainly appreciate it," he laughed as the train pulled into their stop and his assisted her from her seat, "Bed calls."

* * *

"Looong night," Arthur elongated as he pulled the keys from the door and let Gwen pass. The sun was streaming through the window, casting long sunny patches across the floor.

"At least nobody died," Gwen reasoned dumping her bag on top of her shoes.

"There is that, but right now I just want to sleep," he yawned disappearing into their bedroom, "You coming?"

"Be there in a minute," she called out. She went to stand in the window, looking down over the street. She could see the bin men collecting the rubbish down the street. She saw Old Man Simmons from across the hall walking his cat along the pavement. She smiled, running her hands over her bump. "What do you think, baby, do you think Daddy should agree to Ewan, hmm?"

The baby kicked out, "I'll take that as a yes."

"That's because you're bias," Gwen turned to see Arthur leaning against the bedroom door frame; he'd changed into his jogging bottoms and stood with his arms across his bare chest.

"The Baby agrees; what more can I say," Arthur smiled and pushed off of the door frame and walked over to Gwen to crouch in front of her.

"What do you say, Blobby?" Arthur said placing a kiss to Gwen's expanding waistline, "Is Ewan a good name?" Gwen took one of his hands and placed it over the repetitive moment.

"See?"

"That's Blobby disagreeing with you. Looks like it's a 'no' to Ewan," Gwen frowned and tapped him upside the head.

Gwen linked her fingers behind his head, forcing him to look up at her. She took a small step back and bent at the hip to kiss him firmly on the lips, "Ewan stays," she stated firmly, he laughed against her lips and pushed up, hands still about her waist.

"Okay," he kissed her again. He looked out of the window behind her and saw Old Man Simmons and his cat, "Strange man," he blinked it off and looked back to Gwen, "Now can we sleep?"


	13. Book by it's Cover

**Part Twelve**

The next thing on Gwen's 'Things To Do Before The Baby Comes' list was to at least start thinking about the nursery. Arthur's spare room currently had a massive double bed in it and wasn't suitable for a child, let alone a baby. But it did have a small alcove that looked as if it might be big enough for a crib to go into and eventually the head of a single bed.

One of the downsides of not knowing the gender of the baby was they couldn't decorate for it; "Pink, blue or yellow?" Arthur asked as he flicked through a paint chart.

"Are those the only options?" Gwen asked as she flicked through the most recent Radio Times, reading an article about the newest drama fad the BBC had cooked up.

"Well considering we don't know if Blob is a he or a she, I guess we go with yellow."

"Why does pink automatically mean girl? And blue boy?" Gwen asked. As a child she had hated pink and she still didn't go out of her way to wear it.

"Pink is hardly manly," Arthur scoffed his eyes not leaving the page of the paint brochure.

"Well real men wear pink, and what if Ewan likes it?" Gwen protested, poking Arthur in the side.

"Then Ewan likes it, and if Lexie wants blue then she can have it," he smiled at her and moved so he was kneeling down in front of her, "What do you think, Blobs? Do you want blue, or pink, or red, or orange or-"

"Okay, okay. You've made your point," he grinned and leant forwards to press a kiss to her midriff.

"Yellow it is."

"As long as it isn't bright yellow. I don't want to need sunglasses to go in his or her room."

"Agreed," Arthur sat back on the sofa with the paint chart discarded and one hand rubbing over the baby bump in relaxing circles, "What about wall paper?"

"I used to have this really cool animal wall paper when I was a baby. I had it for years," the main reason she'd had it for so long had been due to lack of time and funds to change it, but when it was gone she had missed it. It wasn't the same after it had been replaced by light lavender, but it was far more mature than an arc full of animals.

"Well, if we can find something similar we could do the bottom half. Maybe have some sort of savannah desert animal theme?"

"Gives Morgana a reason to buy a lot of different cuddly toys she keeps pointing out and fussing over when we go shopping."

"Indeed," Arthur replied drolly. Morgana and cuddly toys was a phenomenon he'd never understand. Girls in general had pretty much been a mystery to him his entire life. When he was a teenager he'd been clueless, girls confused him. Once he hit university somewhere in him had managed to turn into a womanising prat and so he had stayed that way ever since. Until the woman sat in front of him feel victim to his ways and now there was no looking back. Not having her before had been the reason he'd been the way he had; to take his mind off of her.

"We could go for a more strawy yellow, that way it's sort of savannah-like," Gwen said. She reached over taking the chart from his lap and flicked a few pages over until she came to the yellow section and pointed at a colour she thought appropriate.

"Yeah, I like it," he had an image in his head then a sudden feeling of impending fear.

He had never, not once in his life, decorated a room.

The car park wasn't so busy, they'd had to travel a little while out of the centre of the city in order to find the nearest B&Q but it was easier to go to the one store than many different ones that central London offered them.

They reached for a flatbed trolley, one of the first they came to nearest the door. Gwen had dropped behind Arthur slightly as he had strode off in front of her at his usual speed. He turned back around to face her, a small smirk on his face as he reached out his hands.

"No, no, Arthur put me down!" Gwen squealed as Arthur picked her up in a bridal embrace.

"As you wish," he responded, putting her down into the trolley, seating her in the flatbed, "You're slowing me down."

"Oi," she warned with a mock frown on her face.

"Merlin's right," Arthur conceded for the first time in history, Merlin was never right! "You do waddle."

"Oi!" Gwen swung out her arm and swiped at his knee. He chortled at her and took a hold of the metal bar that acted as a handle. He pushed her through the entrance, receiving a few odd looks from members of staff, but they didn't seem overly fussed by their blatant disregard to the shop rules. It wasn't like Arthur was running rampant and having races.

Even though the temptation was there, he resisted the urge to start running. If he crashed into something and he hurt her he'd never forgive himself, so for now, he resisted the urge – just this once. He had a good fifteen years to do the same with Blobby anyway. Trolley races; they were one thing he wanted to do.

"Brushes," Gwen stated, reading off of her list. Arthur directed them to the paint aisle. He turned into it and was greeted by a rainbow of colour and an assortment of decorating materials.

"Brushes," he confirmed as he passed her a packet of assorted sized brushes, he had no idea what they actually needed, half an inch to three seemed a good range to him. Maybe a roller?

"Tray thing?"

"Tray thing," Arthur laughed, handing her a roller and tray, she popped it into the trolley by her feet and returned to checking her list.

"Where's the wallpaper?"

"Towards the back," Arthur said, if his memory served him correctly. It had been a while since he had come to the store, but he didn't think they would change it around too much. Though the last time he'd come he'd bought a Christmas tree. Not paint.

"How much do you think we need?" Gwen asked as they went past red paint after red paint.

"Well we can always come back," Arthur shrugged, not having the slightest clue quite how far one roll would stretch. Having never done this before, her guess was probably more informed than his. This time however he felt he had to do it himself. It was one of those big moments in your life that you couldn't fob off on somebody else.

"What about a lamp shade? And a side table lamp. And, oh!" Gwen continued excitedly as Arthur turned the trolley into the next aisle, "we should make a mobile."

"Can't we just buy one?"

"Making one would be better; we could make it more personal that way. Really make a statement," it was something Gwen had been thinking about doing for a while. Maybe small animals and photos of their families that they could change when they got more.

"Okay, okay, let's just concentrate on decorating first, yeah?"

"Spoilsport."

"Here," Arthur handed her a pot of paint, it was a savannah yellow they had decided on after leafing through paint brochure after brochure, "Blobby's going to have the coolest room in the world."

Gwen couldn't help but feel a small swell in her heart. This wasn't the Arthur she had known for ten years, he had changed in the last six months and it wasn't anything but for the better.

"But yellow is totally generic and boring!" Merlin complained as he opened the can of paint. The room wasn't even ready to paint yet, but he wanted to smother it around on one of the walls to show them how boring they were being.

"And what would you suggest, Merlin?" Arthur asked as he shifted the bed towards the door on its side.

"Orange would be good. Orange or green."

"They're too dark," Gwen said looking at the spot on the wall that Merlin had just covered in the colour they had chosen, "I like that."

"You could get a light green."

"I wear green all day, I don't want to come home to green," Gwen said finally throwing a sheet over the floor.

"But-"

"No, Merlin, it's savannah yellow, we have a plan, we're sticking to it! Now help Arthur move the bed out," she batted him away from the paint pot and took the paintbrush from his hand and pushed him towards Arthur.

"All the way down the stairs?" Merlin asked with his eyes wide, that was six flights of stairs down three floors of building.

"Yes, Merlin, now shift," Arthur ordered, he prepared to lift the other end of the bed and waited for Merlin to help. It was alright for Arthur, he actually had muscles on his arms where Merlin was more of a weed.

"This isn't fair."

"Life's not fair, Merlin."

"You get everything you want," Merlin complained, heaving a breath dramatically, "and I have to help you lug the heaviest bed in the world down to the bottom floor so you can get rid of it?"

"It's going into the storage room at the bottom," Arthur shrugged. It was a good bed, he wasn't just giving it away, "The sooner you're done complaining the sooner we can get it done."

"Fine, but you owe me a pint," Merlin reasoned, glaring at Arthur, knowing the older man would agree to it, it was a hot day and they would need it after carrying all the furniture down the staircase. At least some of it would fit into the lift and be a lot less effort.

The first coat of paint didn't take that long to do. Within a couple of hours the whole room had gone from being a boring creamy colour to a colour the pot called "Savannah Sands", it was basically a pastel straw-yellow colour that has looked like 'Custard Dream' and 'Mustard Cream' all at the same time.

With paint smudged on her old, used-to-be-baggy, shirt and across her cheek, Gwen exited the nursery in search of a drink.

She spotted Arthur and Merlin on the sofa, both craning over a catalogue, Arthur with his laptop on his legs with another online catalogue on the screen. She caught a glimpse of a crib on it before Arthur shut the lid and quickly swiped the catalogue from Merlin.

"What did I not see?" Gwen asked as she filled a glass with water from the cold tap.

"Exactly," Merlin replied, bemused smile on his face. Gwen's brow knitted. She shook her head amused and moved across the room towards them. Merlin nodded at her, "How are you feeling, penguin?"

"I do i_not/i_ waddle," Gwen stated as she sat on the arm of the sofa.

"Yeah you do. You're like six months pregnant, you're allowed to waddle," Merlin laughed. He dodged the TV remote that Gwen threw at him, it only narrowly missed hitting his head, landing on the back cushion before falling into his lap, "Abuse!"

"I don't waddle."

"Well you aren't as fast as you were," Merlin paused, cheeky smile across his face, "Penguin."

Arthur dodged Gwen's arm as she launched a pillow in Merlin's direction, "On that note, it's time for us to go to the pub."

From the street, two silhouettes could be seen stood in the window of the Pendragon apartment; one holding a paintbrush and a pot, and the other shorter figure with a roller. Watching closely, you would see the small one laugh as the taller male says something to her.

"Nearly done, I think."

"Just the skirting board left to do," Gwen confirmed, it didn't need much, just a fresh lick of paint.

"Yep," he felt proud. This was the first time in his life that he actually decorated a room without paying somebody else to do it. It wasn't something he was used to. Spur of the moment, not-completely-thought-through ideas were, "Marry me."

"No," she replied softly, looking at him slightly an amused frown on her face. She noticed his downward cast glance and disappoint tug of his lip, "Arthur, I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay."

"I'm only just dealing with imminent motherhood, can't I just have one big, life changing experience at a time," she reached out her hand and intertwined her fingers with his, tugging on his hand so he would look at her.

"It doesn't have to be straight away, I can't plan a wedding in three months, can you?"

"No, but mentally, I can't right now, just give me time, okay?" she squeezed her hand around his and smiled reassuringly at him. She didn't want him to think that i_eventually_/i it wasn't something she wanted, because it was, but not right now.

"So it's a yes, but a no."

"You don't even have a ring," Gwen laughed, reaching up and moving his blonde fringe out of his eyes.

"It's not about the ring," he replied placing a kiss to the palm of her hand.

"No, it's not, but we're not ready yet," she pushed herself onto her toes, and pressed her lips to his, "You know I love you, I don't need a piece of paper to tell me that. Not yet."

"And when your senile and can barely remember what day it is, you'll need the reminder?"

"Exactly," she replied in good jest, kissing him gently on the lips, "I don't need a piece of paper to tell you I love you. I can tell you that myself. I'm not saying I don't want to marry you, just not yet."

"Okay."

She bit the inside of her lip feeling like she needed to say more, "Arthur, I'm lucky to have you. I can't imagine doing any of this without you. You're-" she laughed, smiling as she coyly looked at the floor, "You're my Evangeline."

A grin cracked over Arthur's face, "I love you too."

As she opened the door to the apartment, Gwen had expected to see what she could only describe as a bomb site. There was an array of paintbrushes by the sink, all supposedly clean. There was an assortment of packaging and wrappers strewn across the counter, some had fallen on the floor.

"Arthur?" she called out, placing her bag on the chair and starting to gather up some of the empty packets from various wallpapers and decorating equipment.

"Nursery."

"Yeah, I guessed that. How the hell did you make so much mess?" she asked scooping it into a pile ready to put it in the bin.

"I existed?" he called back, before he suddenly appeared at the door. His hair was sticking up in all directions; he was wearing an old t-shirt and a pair of joggers that had seen better days.

"Seriously, I don't know what you're doing in there, but woah," she looked around, "Couldn't do a Merlin and keep the mess in one place could you?"

"Nope, we're not one in the same. More like complete opposites," he beckoned her over to the room opening the door as wide as it would go and presenting her with the work he had accomplished so far.

Gwen entered and noticed Old Man Simmons sitting on a chair in the centre of alcoved wall, palette in one hand and a paint brush in the other.

On the wall she saw the most incredible painting of a pair of giraffes, not completed but ready to fill in with the finer detail. He was working on a third small giraffe between them.

Her jaw dropped.

"Wow," was all she could say.

"I was on my way to the shop to buy milk when I ran into Mr Simmons on the street. We started talking about us decorating and he asked me what we were doing. He took me into his apartment and showed me some of the most stunning pieces of art I've ever seen. Most of them were of Savannah animals. He asked if he could help. So we took a trip down to B&Q and got some more paints, then went to the art shop to pick up some other things, and here we are."

"This is stunning, Mr Simmons," Gwen didn't notice the stack in the corner, "Thank you."

"Mr Simmons has run out of room on his walls, and he thought that maybe we would like some of these paintings for Blobby's wall," he moved them away to show pictures of the busts of various savannah animals, "We have four here."

"I hope Arthur's offered you something for your time and effort, because these are truly amazing."

"Time and company is all I want, Gwen," she'd never been fully introduced to the old man, but she assumed he had gotten her name from Arthur over the hours he must have spent here, "Company and tea."

"At which I take it as my cue to make another round," Old Man Simmons laughed and turned his attention back to his wall.

"He's a good man you've got there, Gwen."

Of all the times Gwen had seen Mr Simmons in the corridor or on the street outside, never once had she stopped to talk to him. He was always with his cat, that she didn't know the name of, and he was doing this for them? She should have made time to talk to him before.

"Yeah, he is," she replied before she started to admire the work he had done all over again, "You're very talented, Mr Simmons."

"Please, call me Ben."

"Ben," she smiled, "Have you ever shown anybody any of these?" Gwen asked lifting one of the paintings from the floor in order to look at the finery of the brush strokes. She couldn't believe the detail that he had put into these paintings and he was just giving them away?

"I used to teach art at the local secondary school, but when the students get too fast for you, it becomes a bit pointless."

"Never had a show?"

"Once, back before I went to Africa," Gwen was stunned, surely this artwork was worth showcasing to people. It was stunning. Of all the things Gwen had imagined of Mr Simmons, being a talented artist had not been one of them.

"Ever sold anything?"

"Never. Didn't want to," Gwen's heart swelled at the old man, he truly was one in a million, and not just because he took his cat for walks.

"You have to let us pay you for this," Gwen reasoned admiring the individual paintings.

"I won't hear of it. I am an old man, Gwen, what am I going to do with money?" he asked her as he added detail to the legs of the baby giraffe.

"Spend it on your family?" Gwen asked, knowing fully well that he may be on his own in the world. She'd never seen anybody visit him, perhaps that was why he walked his cat. Maybe he, she, it was all he had.

"My daughter lives in Australia. She ran away from home when she was sixteen and never came back. She wrote to me once telling me not to find her. I tried, but by the time I got there she moved on. And my wife died twenty years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that, Ben."

"You live with it," he shrugged nonchalantly; he had had years to get used to it, "Me and Mitten get by."

"Your cat?"

"Yeah, he's good company, but not so much for conversation."

"I can imagine," Gwen laughed along with the older man, still enamoured by his talent.

"Here we go," Arthur announced as he brought back three mugs of tea. He dished them out and took a seat leaning against the wall, "I'll start on the wallpaper tomorrow. I'll do all the bits of wall up to the alcove. Leave that bit blank and add the boarder.

"Sounds good."

"If you need a hand with it, I'd be more than happy to help," Mr Simmons offered sitting back from the wall with his cup of tea.

"Thank you very much," Arthur smiled. Gwen couldn't help but laugh at him.

"He'll need it."

"Hey!"

"He's not the most household chore person, are you?" she laughed. She stood against the wall next to Arthur and ruffled her hand through his hair.

"Not in the slightest," he grinned up at her.

"It will give me something to do, and some more company."

"We'll both be at work tomorrow, but I'll give you a set of keys and you can let yourself in. I trust you not to try and run away with our oversized furniture," Arthur offered with a genuine smile on his face as he imagined the older man with the sofa balanced on his back as he struggled down the stairs.

"I'm stronger than I look," the old man offered with a slight wheeze of breath.

"You should let me check you over," Arthur stated. He'd been trying to convince the man to come into the hospital for a check all afternoon but he'd hear nothing of it.

"I've had the same cough since the war. I'm fine."

"He won't let it go until you agree," Gwen said, looking at the young doctor before he turned to look at the older man, "Incredibly stubborn."

"So are you!"

"Baby doesn't stand a chance then, does she?" Simmons said, he nodded at Gwen's midriff with a smile on his face. Both parents looked at him questioningly.

"We don't know whether it's a boy or girl," Arthur said to him, reaching up to take Gwen's hand from her side and gently squeezing it as he smiled up at her. One day he would marry her, even if she only wanted one thing at a time, at least she hadn't shot him down completely.

"Well my money's on a girl."

Gwen grinned down at Arthur who chortled to himself; "Morgana iwill/i be pleased."

**I'm more than happy to accept constructive criticism, as any gracious author, but if you see a mistake or something doesn't make sense to you, could you point it out to me so I know what it is that is wrong. Because both my beta and myself have read of it multiple times and it could just be a matter of it being how I speak is how I write and I may not phase something completely correctly or how it would make sense to other people (but does to me) Cheers =]**


	14. Forward Planning

**Part Thirteen**

Everyday for the next two weeks, Mr Simmons came to help with the nursery, adding a little to the giraffes each day. He had started to paint a tree over the doorway, but had to wait for the wallpapering to be done before he finished the trunk. It hadn't taken Arthur long with help from Merlin so Mr Simmons had started painting over the paper.

Arthur had finished everything else and was now waiting on the carpet people to deliver so the room could be complete. He'd miss Mr Simmons when he wasn't around, he'd have to make an effort to keep in contact.

"You said you were going to call her Alexandria?" Old man Simmons asked as he mixed colours on his palette.

"If she's a girl, yeah, that's the plan… _at_ _the_ _moment_," Arthur laughed; he knew that I could all change very quickly.

"Have you thought about middle names?" the man asked as he painted intricate leaves onto the top of the tree.

"It's an argument we're saving for another day," Arthur smiled as he watched the man work. It was hypnotising, he worked so fast but so detailed. Work that Arthur felt should be celebrated but Mr Simmons didn't show any interest in partaking in any shows. But he must have done something right in his life to be living in their building.

"What about boys?"

"Gwen likes Ewan."

"But you're not so sure?"

"I like it, but maybe there are better names out there," Arthur shrugged. There was little else he could do whilst Simmons painted, watching him was enough, and keeping the man company as way of payment.

"This is how I see it," he started, "If you want to know, that is?"

"Go ahead."

"You're going to have to use this name for the next fifty or sixty years, it's got to be something you like," Arthur nodded at the man in agreement. It wasn't as if he couldn't live with Ewan for the next fifty or sixty years, but it hadn't been a name he had imagined calling his son, "And Ben is a fantastic name."

Arthur chortled, "I'll see what she says."

x

Night shifts were dull. Incredibly dull. He could have utilised the time to catch up paper work or work on scheduling but there were only so many times you could stare at a chart or a computer spreadsheet before your head started to hurt. Half the time there was so little to do that Arthur would entertain himself spinning around in the desk chair counting how many times one push could make the thing rotate before he stopped. He had been doing the very same thing now, until he spotted Gwen leaning on the desk watching him in amusement.

He stopped and sheepishly looked at the floor. She laughed; she liked to see him act younger sometimes. It was moments like that that made her certain he'd be a good father, if he was able to just let himself go occasionally and not take himself seriously all of the time.

Arthur cleared his throat and smiled; "Have you thought about what you're going to do with work?" he asked to try and take her attention away from him.

"I don't want to give up," Gwen admitted, taking his bait and swinging with it, "but I don't want somebody else raising my baby."

Arthur guided the chair around the desk, wheeling himself up to Gwen who perched herself on his knees, "If we worked opposite shifts we'd never see each other," he slipped one hand around her back holding her to him.

"I was thinking of utilizing my Dad," she suggested, knowing that he would be more than willing to help out, "He only works part time these days, and he could probably look after the baby when we can't. Keep it in the family. We could always ask Uther too, but he's always working as well."

"I wouldn't trust him," Arthur laughed as he slowly edged the chair back around the desk so he could fill in some of his charts.

"He did okay with you, didn't he?"

"Eventually."

"I've worked too hard on my career to stop," she couldn't say it would be throwing it all away because she would be doing something else completely worth while in it's place, and she could always pick it up again when the opportunity arose, "But I wouldn't mind cutting back on hours until he/she is in school."

"What would we do without you here?" Arthur murmured looking past her and attempting to use the desk to start to write out his evaluations again.

"Have wild parties with the other doctors?"

"The only wild parties I want are with you," he commented, looking at her with a sideways glance, a smirk on his face, unable to concentrate on his work like he thought he'd be able to.

"You're absurd."

"But you love it."

x

The tube was full to the brim of people. Luckily for them they didn't have to go far, but Arthur stood with an arm around Gwen keeping her balanced against the seat at the side of the carriage as he held onto the bar that followed the roof of the carriage, "Lexie Elizabeth?" he suggested with his chin rested on the top of her head.

"Too traditional, I know so many people with the middle name Elizabeth," Gwen said leaning against his chest. It had been a long day and she couldn't wait to sit down and relax, perhaps a bath with lavender oil and soothing music.

"Lexie Charlotte?" he felt her shake her head against his chest and considering another name; "Lexie Amelia? Alexandria Amelia?"

She looked up at him and thought about it, "Alexandria Amelia?"

"It's a good name," a man commented who was leaning against the carriage wall next to Gwen, "Now stop being so cute, yah makin' me feel sick," Gwen blushed and buried her face into Arthur's shirt.

"Sorry, mate," Arthur laughed as the Tube violently shifted. He tightened his arm around her.

"Nah, y'alright. Kinda sweet, innit," the train pulled into the station. Arthur checked over his shoulder and noted the stop as theirs.

"This is us," he nudged her as others in the carriage readied themselves to get off the train, "Bye," Arthur nodded at the teenager as they disembarked.

"Alexandria Amelia?" Gwen asked as Arthur took her hand and lead her towards their apartment building, "I like it."

x

Mothercare was a wondrous shop in which Gwen had been standing frozen at a rail for the last thirty minutes deciding on what she actually needed. It was the start of September and she had seen flocks of school children of the last few days heading back for the new academic year. It hit her that in a few years time that would be her.

"This is probably the cutest thing I've ever seen," Morgana cooed, picking up a newborn babygro, showing the small garment to the expectant mother tearing her away from her mental lists.

"Need a couple of them, take your pick," Gwen reasoned, fingering through all the small items on the rack. Babies grew fast; they'd be buying more clothes sooner than they would ever anticipate. Buying anything too fancy within the first few months would be pointless as it would soon be discarded for being too small.

"All on Arthur?" the female doctor asked shoving a couple of the plain white gros into Gwen's basket and fingering through a few larger multicoloured ones.

"Actually; all on Uther."

"Wow, how did that happen?" Morgana asked, placing a few of the smaller items into the basket they'd picked up on the way back in.

"I have no idea, but he gave me a thousand for what he called 'miscellaneous baby items'. It was our awkwardest conversation since the time I asked if he had any of Arthur's baby toys up at the house. How can a person not believe in baby toys?"

"Take it from someone who's been looking for an answer to the Pendragon thought process for _years_… there isn't one," Morgana stated. She grinned amused as she picked up packet of tiny socks, before placing them in the basket as well. "Thousand pounds isn't going to get you very far."

"Yeah, but from a man who Arthur could have sworn was completely against us to start with," Gwen said, still not having but anything in the basket, "I didn't want to take it, but Arthur paid it into my account without me knowing about it. So I can't really give it back now."

"He'd take it as an insult. Both of them would."

"Throwing money at things never solves anything."

"They're Pendragons, what more do you expect?" Morgana replied, "Awh!" she squealed, "You have to get this," Morgana picked up a penguin suit, the hat adorned a beak.

"No, Morgana. Just: no."

"But it's so a-doooor-ra-ble," Morgana whined, articulating every syllable. She held it up in front of her and hugged it to her chest. The stern look on Gwen's face didn't shift.

"I am not letting you near my child."

"I'm putting it down, I'm putting it down!" Morgana soon dropped the garment back onto the rack.

"Goooood," Gwen laughed, as she found a single six month old baby baby-grow. It had a small baby elephant emblazoned on the chest of it, and was a soft flannel in a lemony yellow.

"What about these?" Morgana asked, but Gwen didn't look up, running her fingers over the fine material she'd found.

"Fine," she said, picking up the small garment she had found and turning to place it in the basket and seeing all the items Morgana had managed to collect, "Bloody Hell, Morg."

Morgana merely smiled, "What else do you need?"

"All of it. Car seat. Cot. Bottles. Everything you can think of and then some!"

x

"The girls wanted to throw this massive party for you but I said you were a prude," Morgana smiled as she presented the box of gifts from those in the department, "Then Soph got flu, Val was being a bigger prude and Vivian was, well Vivian was against you completely. Bitch."

"Morgana!"

"What? What did you ever do to her? Just because she thinks Arthur is smokin'."

"Never talk about your brother in that way again," Gwen said in a deadpan tone, "it's disturbing."

"This is for you," Morgana said, changing the subject as she presented Gwen with the box, "In it you will find all you need to survive in your new life with Arthur and his spawn."

"_Our_ spawn."

"Your spawn, I don't expect this supply to last long," Gwen opened the box to find a collection of small wine bottles – the sort you have on flights – and a large assortment of chocolates and sugary treats. Gwen laughed, it was all girly-night-in foods only with the Ben and Jerry's ice cream was missing.

"Your confidence in your brother is extraordinary."

"My confidence in his ability to screw things up knows no bounds," Morgana confirmed with a sadistic grin on her face. Gwen knew exactly how Morgana viewed her brother, and it wasn't as bad an opinion as she made out. They got along more than Morgana admitted to and they had a way of understanding each other that nobody else quite understood.

"So I've seen."

"In all seriousness, you need to treat yourself occasionally; I know Arthur can be a bit of a div about these things, so I thought I'd take it upon myself to make a collection."

"Thank you, Morgana."

"This is from Merlin," she passed Gwen a bar of Galaxy, "He said something about tradition and-"

"Tea?" Gwen smiled. Since they'd moved in together the pair of them would sit together on the sofa and share stories on their days whilst dipping squares of Galaxy chocolate into the warm drink to melt it.

"Tea."

"Thank him, for me," Morgana nodded, "And tell him I expect a partner to share this with."

"Will do. How are you feeling?"

"Huge," Gwen laughed as she opened one of the packets of Haribo Morgana had included in her care package.

"You've still got, what?" she hi-jacked a green teddy jelly from the pack in Gwen's hand, "Twelve weeks?"

"Something like that."

"Well you've been so tiny all your life, time to live on the other side."

"Like you live on a different side to me!"

"Didn't say I had to, just said you did."

x

Leading her father across their apartment Gwen placed her hand on the nursery door handle and clutched it tightly.

"And _this_ is the nursery," Gwen opened the door to the completed room for her father to see. He admired the walls and whistled appreciatively, taking in the sight of the finished room, with the paintings hanging on the wall and the Giraffes that rested behind the space left for the crib.

"I didn't know the pair of you could paint," he chuckled, admiring Old Man Simmons' work.

"We can't," Gwen laughed, "Mr Simmons from downstairs can."

"Well he is a very talented man," Tom turned back to face his daughter. He reached into the carrier bag that he had been holding and produced a small rabbit. It was certainly old and worn, with one ear missing, but it looked as if it had been put in the washing machine in recent years, "I was cleaning out your room, again, today, and I found this."

"Fagin?" she took the rabbit from his hands and hugged him to her chest. Her childhood 'blankie' was certainly a lot smaller than she remembered and a lot less cushioned than he had been.

"He was in need of a bit of a clean, but he seems to be as good as new," Tom offered gently clasping his daughter on the shoulder, beaming smile on his face.

"Thanks Dad," she pulled him into a hug, Fagin still in her hand.

"What's yours is your baby's," he said into her hair. He pulled away from her and placed a kiss to her forehead.

"Love you, Dad."

"Love you too, pumpkin."

Gwen's mobile sounded in her pocket, she pulled it from her pocket and checked the Caller ID, "Sorry Dad, it's Arthur, I better take this."

"Sure thing, I'll go make some tea," he disappeared from the room and Gwen lifted the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

x

Gwen rushed out of the nursery as quickly as her bump would allow her to and she grabbed her bag from the kitchen counter checking for her door keys and throwing her phone into it, "I'm really sorry, Dad, I've got to go," she said as he moved to present her with a cup of tea, "Mr Simmons has been taken into the hospital, he had a heart attack and collapsed in the supermarket; it's not looking good. Somebody should be with him."

"Okay darling, do what you have to do, I'll lock up here."

"Thank you," she smiled and took off out of the apartment door. He shouldn't be alone.

x

Gwen entered the department in a hurry, walking straight past Morgana to the reception, flicking through the charts to find Mr Simmons'. She looked at it quickly to see that it hadn't been as bad as Arthur had initially thought and that he was in Exam Room three waiting on an observation bed upstairs for an overnight stay.

She arrived at the exam room quickly to find Arthur already talking to the old man, "Hi," she smiled as she opened the door, "I got here as quickly as I could."

"What are you doing here?" Simmons asked, dressed in a gown with several machines attached to him.

"We didn't want you on your own."

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine," Gwen said pointedly looking around the room, "You're in hospital. I wasn't doing anything and I'd feel better if you'd let me sit with you. And if you refuse, I bought you the drawing pad and sketching pencil you left in our flat, and you need somebody to draw."

"The case is settled," Arthur smiled, standing from his seat and offering it out to Gwen who gratefully accepted it, "I'll come back when I know anything on that bed."

"Thank you, Arthur."

"I'll see you later," he took off back towards the floor of patients he had left to treat.

"You don't have to stay here with me, Gwen," Old Man Simmons laughed, briefly coughing.

"You're not well, let us treat you," she said sternly passing him his notepad and drawing pencils, "And I'm here now, I might as well stay."

"Well you'd best not be a fidgeter."

x

It hadn't taken long before Gwen had drifted off to sleep. She'd been tired on her arrival but the added constant beeping of the machine had lulled her into an uninterrupted slumber.

Arthur returned an hour later to find her resting on the arm of the chair, with Mr Simmons drawing her.

"I was always better at animals," the man admitted without looking up from the portrait. As far as Arthur was concerned, when he looked at the drawing, the only thing determining it from his girlfriend was the monochrome colouring.

"Wow," Arthur smiled, though it soon disappeared, "Be brutally honest with me, Ben, does it hurt?"

"No."

"Honestly."

"Yeah, it hurts."

"The risk of repetition or heart failure is high. From your history, I would say it is more likely that you could suffer a second heart attack within the next week. I'd like to keep you in the ICU for observation for the next seven days. We can run tests and keep an eye on you, if after the week you show no sides of deterioration we'll let you go. If you don't improve, we'll keep you longer. Sound like a plan?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Yes, but I suggest you take us up on the offer," He was in doctor mode now. If he was in friend mode he would demanding that Mr Simmons stay in the hospital as long as it took. The old man was vulnerable and he didn't want him at any unnecessary risk.

"In that case, I guess I'd better do it."

"We've got you a bed. You just need to sign some forms and I'll have Merlin take you up there."

"Just as long as you send Gwen home," Mr Simmons reasoned looking at he sleeping female, "she's shattered, she doesn't need to be here."

"She wants to be here. She cares about you."

"That's Gwen's general personality," Mr Simmons said. He'd seen Gwen around many times over the last few months and she'd always smiled at him as he passed. "It's like some drive in her she'll never turn off. Everybody above herself."

"You don't need to tell me that, Ben, I know. I'll talk her out of here, or carry her kicking and screaming."

"Do you think I'll be okay, honestly?"

"Honestly? I think you should be careful. Age isn't on your side, nor is nature or your heart," Arthur replied honestly, it wasn't in his nature to lie to any patient; he had to tell it like it was. He didn't want to build up his hopes only to have them dash again.

"I've lived my life, maybe my time is up?"

"Gwen would never forgive me if I didn't make you stay. Give us a week, if we can't find anything to stop your problem easily, you have my permission to halt any treatment, and you can carry on your way. I can't say I won't feel guilty, but if it's what you want, I can't stop you."

"Making me a Don't Not Resus?"

"Yeah, that way people would respect your decisions. They won't do what you don't want them to," it pained him to admit it, but Mr Simmons was an old man. He'd survived war as a child and now was fighting an internal battle that he might not win. There was every chance of repercussion in the next week.

"Thank you, Arthur."

"Anything I can do to repay you," and though it didn't feel like it, perhaps telling this man the honest truth, Arthur was paying him back for his work. Sometimes all you needed was a person to tell you the truth.

Gwen slowly woke. She smiled when she saw Arthur but she knew the look on his face. It was one she had seen many times. It wasn't great news. Most likely bordering on bad, which had been what she'd been expecting.

"We've got him a bed," Arthur informed her, "Merlin will be in in a sec to take him up, and then I'm going to take you home."

"I'm fine," she said through a yawn.

"You're shattered, you're not doing yourself any good here," Arthur reasoned, clipping the recent test results to Mr Simmons' chart and resting it on the small table, "The pair of us have agreed that you need to sleep."

"I'll be fine Gwen," Mr Simmons injected, "I hear there are plenty of lovely nurses in this hospital to take care of me," the old man laughed, winking at her, "And I hear some of them are single."

Gwen laughed. The man certainly had his spirits up, "I'll stay with you until Merlin comes, that way Arthur can work without feeling guilty, and I can pass on the message to look out for you."

"I'll be the star patient."

"If you just want to sign where I've crossed here," Arthur pointed offering out the chart and a pen, "Then I can get Merlin in here and have you on the party scene a.s.a.p."

"He knows what I'm talking about," the old man coughed, wheezing heavily. It didn't help to soothe the worry on Gwen's face, only making the creases on her forehead furrow deeper.

"Okay?" she asked offering him a cup of water that had been left by the side of his bed.

"Dandy," he replied taking a few sips of the liquid, "Let's get this party started."

**This chapter is very much an info-movey-on chapter that holds the info that makes the next few chapters make sense and have more meaning. So I hope it doesn't leave you too disappointed. The next part is a lot stronger. Thanks for all the lovely reviews so far. Any grammatical or other mistakes can you point them out so I can correct them. Cheers =]**


	15. Look After You

**Part Fourteen**

The weather held out on the sad day in September when a small collection of people gathered in Kensal Green Cemetery. It had been a simple service, with lush white lilies arranged on the coffin as it was lowered into the ground.

Mr Benjamin Simmons only family had left him alone in the world, a man with few friends; it was left to those neighbours who cared enough, to organise a ceremony to commemorate such a wonderful man,, "I've lived in the same building as Ben for many years. He was the one constant person in my life who would smile and wish me a good day without even knowing my name. One morning not long ago I got talking to him, I found him to be the most interesting man I'd ever met.

"He spent time in Africa as an artist. His home was full of the most exquisite paintings I'd ever seen. I'm glad to have known him. I'm glad I finally invited him into my home because now adorning my walls is one thing that will never fade away. His memory will live on in the nursery he helped to decorate. For the last few weeks, Ben Simmons made our lives a brighter place, and helped make our babies' first memories one too. Thank you all for coming. I'm sure Mr Simmons and Mitten here would like you to raise your glasses in loving memory of a loving man."

Gwen clasped Arthur's hand as he finished his speech, a glass of orange juice in the other. The small gathering all raised their glasses, most of them people who had lived in the building with them. Some had been people Arthur had found the contact details of in Mr Simmons' flat. It saddened him that some of those who appeared to be his closest friends had already passed on. Arthur had never been a religious man, but he liked to think that you passed over to _somewhere_ and got to spend the rest of time with loved ones. It gave him hope that one day he'd get to meet his mother.

"To Benjamin Simmons. One of a kind."

"Ben," the congregation raised their glasses, small smiles playing on their faces.

Gwen had wanted him to meet 'Blobby'; it was he or she that Mr Simmons had treated to his final work. She had already had the picture printed that they had taken of the three of them in the nursery by his finished painting as a memento of the man. She planned on keeping it on the windowsill that was opposite the giraffes so he could live on watching him or her grow up in the environment he had created.

They had a small buffet prepared by the staff of the local pub. Arthur had spoken to them about hosting the event and they too had shared good times with him, knowing exactly what food it would be he would want – having always ordered the same thing when he came in.

"One final thing. Ben was a fan of mixing strange combination of drinks together, according to these blokes," he looked over to the barman and noticed the younger barman smirking, "So, in his honour, they have prepared us with some of his favourite concoctions," he finished sceptically. The three barman came over with an array of assorted coloured liquids in taste tester glasses and rested them on the table.

Each person lifted a drink to their lips, "Bottoms up," one of the residents laughed downing his drink in one. He grimaced, "I think Ben lost it a while ago."

"I think you may be right," Arthur confirmed, placing down his glass and gagging slightly, "Enjoy the food guys."

Gwen sat at their usual table in the corner, soon joined by Arthur who had finished his hosting duties. He bought over the cat that Mr Simmons had loved so dearly and placed him down on the bench seat.

"You can't keep him," Gwen laughed reaching over to pet the small animal on the head.

"Damn. Actually, I was thinking of giving him to Merlin. He said something about wanting a cat, and well, with Blobby on the way, we don't really have the room."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate it," she settled herself into his side, leaning her head against his shoulder, "What about Benjamin?" she asked quietly with one hand resting over her black shirt.

"What was it you said about traditional names?" Arthur teased, knowing full well why she as suggesting the name in the first place. He had thought about it himself and he imagined it would be the best way to commemorate Old Man Simmons, as well as being a good name.

"I was thinking though; Benjamin doesn't have to be shortened to Ben. We could shorted it the other way; to Jamie."

"Jamie?" Arthur asked, he hadn't really thought about it like that, he'd accepted Ben as a name in his head for his little boy, but Jamie worked too.

"No?" Gwen asked looking up at him with a sideways glance, she didn't want him to deny the name, but - at the same time - if he wasn't happy with it she didn't want him to agree.

"I like it," he nodded taking a sip from his pint to rid himself of the foulness of Ben's invention.

"Yeah?"

"I think Ben would too," Arthur smiled pressing a kiss to her forehead and smiling. It was the perfect solution, "Benjamin Ewan?"

"So you're allowing Ewan now?" Gwen jibbed laughing into his shirt.

Arthur looped his arm around her shoulders resting his hand on her waist, allowing his fingers to gently rub over her bump, "I guess I am, yeah."

x

When Merlin looked back at the last year of his life he couldn't think of anything he could do differently. Living with Gwen had been a fun experience. It was like she was a second mother. She'd cook for him and do his laundry when it piled up too high and she nagged him endlessly about the state of his room.

Now she was stood at his and Morgana's front door with a pet basket in one hand and a Tesco bag in the other.

"Hi?" he greeted and stood aside to let her in. She passed him the shopping bag and walked down the short corridor into the kitchen-lounge area. She disposed the box on the coffee table and undid the tabs that held it shut, "Gwen?"

"I have a present for you," Merlin comically looked into the plastic bag and raised in eyebrow.

"Tinned cat food and a collar? Thanks Gwen."

"Don't forget the toy mouse full of cat nip."

"Just what I always wanted," he looked up from the bag to see Gwen now holding a grey cat against her.

"This is Mitten. He belonged to Ben," she started to explain; "I spoke to Morgana. And we know you wanted a cat, and this little star needs a home. We all thought you might want him," she passed the small cat to Merlin. Though fully grown the cat was still relatively small in comparison to the big tom that lived on the third floor of Merlin's building.

"Thank you," he said, a little bewildered as he took the cat from her. Used to being handled the cat settled in his grasp straight away, "I feel like should have something to give you in return."

"Just look after him."

Merlin set the cat down on the wooden floor so he could explore his new surroundings.

"Do you want a cup of tea?"

"Depends, have you got Galaxy?"

"Would I offer otherwise?" a grin cracked over Gwen's face, reflected on Merlin's as he set about filling the kettle.

x

Gwen giggled as she dipped her chocolate bar into the hot liquid. She had her cup of tea resting on the top of her bump, able to drink from it without lifting the cup.

"Okay, okay! Flying or telepathy?" Merlin asked her. They hadn't played a good game of 'Would You Rather?' since they had lived together and he as finding it hard to come up with new questions.

"Telepathy because I'd always know what people were thinking."

"I'd rather fly, more freedom and I like being ignorant to people's opinions of me."

"Like anybody dislikes you."

"Some things you don't need to know."

"Diaz or Jolie?"

"Diaz."

"I'm telling Morgana."

"What did I do now?"

"You chose the blonde."

"Because she's the only brunette I want."

"Nice cover."

"Ten or Eleven?" his eye glinted in mischief.

Gwen whined and looked at him with wide eyes, "I can't make that decision."

"You have to. It's the rules!" Gwen made a noise that could only be described as strangled desperation, "Five! Four!"

"Ah, no. That's not fair!"

"Three! Two!"

"Ten. No Eleven. I don't know!"

"One."

"Ten."

"And Smith loses to Tennant as I knew he would," Gwen raised an eyebrow at him and licked te melted chocolate from the bar, "If you look at Arthur from a certain angle and when he has a certain expression on his face he looks like him," Gwen's eyebrow went higher, "He does!"

"No he doesn't."

"Sure he does," Gwen laughed again, taking a sip from her cup only to have it dibble down her chin slightly because Blobby had taken that moment to kick the heated patch. She lifted her mug and rubbed her hand over the spot. Merlin shifted and placed his hand under Gwen's.

"Once upon a time Mum was convinced that this would be us. Even when I was with Morgana," he grinned as Blobby kicked his hand like it was the first time he'd felt it.

"You live with someone and they all think there is something going on."

Merlin laughed, "Wouldn't want you anyway," Gwen's jaw dropped, she looked offend (very over-the-top so) and she batted him around the back of the head, "Hey, Arthur would kill me, it's nothing personal!"

x

Arthur Pendragon had found it increasingly harder to sleep since he'd learnt that he was to become a father. The closer December came the more worried he became. He knew the chances of complications in childbirth was a lot less than when he was born, and he knew all the complications and possibilities of things going wrong, but I didn't stop him from panicking.

Tonight was a blissful night in which the young doctor found himself rendered able to sleep and he very much approved of the needed rest. What he disapproved of, however, was the light now shining in his eyes from Gwen turning on the bedside lamp and shifting purposefully beside him.

"Arthur, wake up," she poked him in the arm repetitively until he showed signs of life. He shifted, laying an arm across his eyes.

"Mmm?" he managed sleepily, trying to ignore his pending chore which no doubt would have him leaving the house for some reason or another.

"I'm hungry," she pestered shaking his arm in order to bring him back to reality, "I'm going over to Martyn's."

"We have food in the fridge," he mumbled turning over to face away from the light and to let sleep take him. She could have left him sleeping and left him a note in case he woke up, but she had to tell him. Like she had the last few nights.

"But I want one of Martyn's pasta bakes," again. They were going to get tired of them going in pretty much every night. They were already finding it amusing.

"It's gone eleven, they're closed," he mumbled trying his hardest to catch the sleep train that was about the leave the station, as it were.

"But it's Saturday night, they stay open until one," She pushed her feet into her flats and grabbed out for her jumper against the late night chill.

He sighed, "Fine. I'll be back," he pushed himself up and out of bed, pulling on his old trainers over sockless feet and headed for the door only grabbing a hoodie to put on over his bare top half.

"It's fine I can go myself," she said checking her purse for money and stepping off towards the door. Arthur rolled his eyes and stepped in front of her path. He took a hold of her shoulders and turned her back towards the bed.

"Anything else?" he asked before legging it.

"One of their chocolate milkshakes, with extra cream?" she smiled to herself and settled back into her pillows and kicked off her shoes.

"Right. Give me ten minutes," he left their bedroom and grabbed his door keys on his way out of the flat. This was the third time he had been sent on the same errand in the last week. Only this time it was later than the last two. He didn't mind treating her and he didn't mind doing things for her, but for the first time in near five months since finding out he was going to be a father he had been sleeping soundly and she had interrupted. He told himself he loved her. He reminded himself of what he had bought that very morning and he jogged down the street to the pub on the corner.

Paul was behind the bar when he entered the otherwise empty pub. He looked positively bored but brightened considerably at the thought of company. He chuckled heartily when he noticed the putout look on Arthur's face.

"She can't be that bad, mate," he laughed readying himself for action knowing exactly what it was he was going to ask for.

"It's alright for her; she can sleep soundly once she's had this. I'll be tossing and turning all night now," Arthur complained as he approached the bar.

"Well that's love for you, ain't it?" he chortled, unfailing smile on his face. He scooped the ice cream for the shake into the blender and poured in some milk along with a few squares of a chocolate bar before he turned on the power, "I'll just go grab you a dish."

"Thanks," Arthur slumped onto one of the bar stools fiddling with his keys as the small machine whirled with the milk, mixing it with the chocolate ice cream and other ridiculously chocolatey items that the barman had thrown in. How Gwen could drink it he would never know; the thought of it made him feel a bit sick. He watched the liquid violently dance around the container constantly mixing and shuddered.

"You look like you could do with a pint, mate," the blonde barman remarked as he handed over a dish with a portion of the vegetarian bake in it for Arthur to heat up when he got back to the flat. Pressing two buttons he could just about manage on his own without burning the flat down and the pub had already given him the cling film.

"Better not, she's expecting me," he sighed as he eyed the pump of his favourite drink. No, he'd better not. She'd know and then she'd get annoyed because he'd not hurried. Even though Paul looked positively pitiful sat on his own; the excuse would never fly.

"Here you go," he offered him a take away cup, ones they had gotten in the last few days just for Arthur, full of the chocolate milkshake.

"Cheers, can you add it to the tab? I forgot my wallet," he said as he reached into the front pocket of his hoodie with a slight grimace. Luckily he knew the guys at the bar trusted him, and if all else failed they _did_ know where he lived.

"Sure, we'll be seeing you tomorrow, I bet," the barman laughed again, how he could continue to be happy all the time Arthur had no idea, but it certainly helped.

"Oh, you can count on it," both men laughed as Arthur prised himself from the stool and headed for the exit, "Thanks again."

"Any time," the barman smiled grabbing the remote for the CD player and hitting the volume up button. At least Arthur could see how he was going to pass some of the time. Still it wasn't like he had long left before closing and he only lived upstairs once he was finished anyway.

x

Arthur ran back up the few flights of stairs and into the flat. Gwen hadn't gotten back out of bed. Knowing his luck in the ten minutes he had been gone she'd have fallen back to sleep and when he nudged her awake to eat she'd not be hungry anymore. At least he'd then had the meal to present her with later on.

He popped the ceramic dish into the microwave, whacked the few buttons and left it to heat up before he approached the bedroom door with the take away cup.

To his surprise she was still awake, just led back against the head board with a book in her hands. Not something she had been reading before so he assumed she'd foraged about on the bookcase whilst he'd be gone.

"Here you go: one chocolate milkshake. Bake is in the micro."

"Thank you," she beamed, discarding the book immediately and reaching out to accept the shake from him. He collapsed down into his side of the bed and toed off his shoes, leaving himself in his hoodie and sleeping joggers.

"You're lucky," he mumbled as he buried his head into his pillow not wanting to get up again.

"Why?"

"Because, if I didn't love you so much, I could just make you sod off to Martyn's on your own," he laughed pulling the duvet cover over himself wanting sleep to take him before the microwave sounded.

"That would be mean, making me go on my own," she pouted, but he had his eyes shut so was blind to her complaints.

"All the way to the corner," he mumbled sleepily.

"Exactly," she laughed. She sucked on her straw and watched as Arthur cuddled into his pillows. The microwave beeped. She frowned, she was warm, and cosy and she really didn't want to move, and Arthur still had his jumper on, "Arthur," she poked him again. He grunted, "Arthur."

"Mhmm?"

"Can you get me the bake from the microwave?" he groaned and buried his head into his pillow further, "Please?" he opened one eye to look up at her and her innocent expression.

"Fine," he closed his eye again and remained stationary. Gwen prodded him violently in the ribs, "Okay, okay. Christ alive, I'm going!" he rolled off of their bed and headed for the door at a sluggish pace.

"Love you," Gwen called out with an impish grin on her face, straw still between her lips.

"Yeah, yeah."

x

Lavender candles burned at the other end of the tub filling the room with the relaxing scent, enough to make Gwen want to fall asleep in the water. She was warm, with the hot water working at the muscles in her aching feet and soothing them. With Arthur as a human pillow she was more than comfortable. The bath was big enough to comfortably fit two people in; a luxury that came with having a little money to spare.

She sighed, letting the tension from the days work leave her. Her tense muscles steadily relaxed.

Arthur cupped his hand in the bubbling water, emptying the contents over his girlfriends protruding stomach. He ran his other hand over the exposed bump, tracing his fingers over her skin.

Gwen took his hand, moving it to hold it over a particular spot. Arthur felt it. The baby, be it a boy or a girl was kicking and hard at that. Arthur grinned, though he had felt it so many times before, it never stopped making him feel like the happiest person in the world, feeling that under his hand gave him such joy.

"I think we've got a footie player right there," Arthur said into the nape of Gwen's neck before placing a kiss to the wet skin.

"Rugby," she argued, turned her head so she could look him in the face.

"Both?"

"That's more like it," she pressed a swift kiss to his lips before relaxing into the water once again, "The sooner this child of yours is born, the sooner I can see my feet and the sooner I can walk for more than five minutes without getting backache the better," she complained, though her tone was tranquil.

"Sit up a sec," Gwen frowned, following his orders and budging forwards in the water. She tensed when she felt Arthur's hands reach her shoulders, gently massaging his thumbs into her muscles, "Just relax."

She dropped her shoulders and allowed him to work at the knots in her muscles for a few minutes, gently splashing the water over the skin of her upper arms to keep them warm.

When he was done, he pressed a kiss to the base of her neck and slipped back into the water, gently guiding Gwen to lie against his torso, "Better?"

"Much," she closed her eyes in contentment, lolling her head to rest her cheek on his water slick skin. She felt his arm shift, reaching out of the bath but she didn't open her eyes. The warmth of the water relaxing her enough to lull her to sleep gently as the bubbles gently worked against her skin.

Arthur shifted his shirt and reached into the pocket of his jeans pulling out a small velvet box; one that he had kept on his person for the last couple of weeks.

Arthur pressed a tender kiss to her temple, Gwen leant into the touch with a smile on her face, "Marry me," Arthur said quietly into her ear. She opened her eyes at his words. She shot him down in the past but now was different, "I know you only want one life changing thing at a time, but I love you. What happened with Ben, with my own mother, it made me realise I could lose you, both of you, at any time. I don't want to lose you without you knowing that you're everything to me.

"We don't have to get married right away. I don't care how long we wait, just as long as you're mine," Now they weren't inhaling paint fumes. Now they were blissfully laying in a bath being the most relaxed they'd been in over seven months. Now he was holding out the most intricate piece of jewellery Gwen had ever seen.

In the month since Arthur had last posed the question to her life had moved on. Everything he'd said were things she couldn't deny. She'd witnessed friendship be taken away faster than they were made. She knew she didn't want to lose what she had. Arthur had never known his mother, and although he felt at a loss, Gwen had experienced losing her own mother first hand. She could remember exactly how she'd felt and she never wanted to feel it again.

"Arthur," she managed as her jaw dropped, speechless. She turned her body as much as her bump would allow and looked him in the face. There, in that one look, she knew her answer. She'd known that he loved her, and Alexandria Jamie Amelia Ewan, more than anything but never had seen the serenity on his face. The sincerity of his actions and his words was enough to overwhelm anyone. She'd always been so good at throwing off his over-the-top advances in the past but somehow this time she couldn't.

She couldn't shift the grin from her face and she didn't want to. She leant forwards capturing his lips for an answer. Arthur pulled the ring from the velvet box, dropping the container by the side of the bath. Gwen slipped back around in his embrace, her left hand in mid air. Arthur slipped the band over her wet finger, lifting the appendage to his mouth and kissing it gently.

"I love you," he said into her hair, gently resting his right hand over hers where the Baby had kicked earlier.

"I love you too," he kissed her on cheek, holding her tightly, smile on his face and his family within his embrace. This was it; this was the life he had envisaged since he was seventeen years old.

It was so much more than he had ever imagined. He'd never known then what love felt like, but now he did. It was all consuming and although his job left him with a satisfaction having saved people's lives, knowing he would come home to the one girl in the world he had always wanted added a bounce to his step.


	16. Flying like a Frisbee

**Part Fifteen**

The next morning after Gwen had woken up the first thing she did once she'd turned on the kettle was phone her father. She didn't need Merlin telling him every aspect of her life before she did.

"Hello?"

"Hi Dad, it's me," she announced down the phone as she pulled a pair of mugs out of the cupboard.

"Morning Sweetheart, alright?"

Gwen grinned down the phone resting against the kitchen counter with one hand resting on her stomach, "Yeah, really well thank you, you?"

"All the better from hearing from you," she could feel the smile on his face coming through in his voice, "Got a lot of hassle from a client at the moment. It's not my fault their previous electrician screwed them over," he sighed.

"I'm sure they'll appreciate your work when it's done to the highest standard," Gwen assured carrying on with her tea making. She could happily listen to her father's grips all day. Though it reminded her how much she as missing when she didn't speak to him, it made her even more grateful to have a parent who was as understanding and thee for her as Tom was.

"Yeah," he paused on the end of the line as Gwen poured milk into the two cups, "I assume there was a reason you called," Tom laughed down the phone.

Gwen winced, "What makes you say that?" feeling automatically guilty for not calling more often than she knew she should have.

"I know you love me and you are the best daughter a father could have, but you do tend to get a bit caught up in the world before your old Dad."

"Sorry."

"It's okay; I'd be worried if you still relied on me," she heaved a sigh of relief, "so what is it? It's not bad is it? The baby is okay?"

"The baby is fine. It's nothing bad," she laughed down the phone fiddling with the teaspoon she'd been holding. Absent-mindedly tapped the new band of metal on her finger against it.

"Don't keep me in suspense, pumpkin."

"Arthur asked me to marry him," she blurted subconsciously looking at her left hand and moving her new ring with her thumb.

"Congratulations, sweetheart."

"Thanks, Dad."

"When do you plan on actually getting married?" she could hear the doubt in his voice. She knew he wanted her to be sensible about it, but she's who she was – most of the time – sensible Gwen, who didn't accidentally get pregnant after sleeping with her boss…

"Not until after the baby is born, don't worry," she reassured him, "I don't think I could cope becoming a mother and Mrs Pendragon all in one go."

"And Arthur?" her father implored.

"He thinks he's ready for it."

"He's probably spent ten years _planning_ it."

"I don't think so, Dad," she laughed pouring the hot water from the kettle into the cups, the teabags floating to the top of the liquid.

"Sure about that?" he asked her sceptically, she cold hear the amusement in his voice.

"Yeah," she poked the teabags around in the cups to make it brew faster.

"Sorry, pumpkin, I better go. I have to be at their house for seven or they get tetchy."

"Okay, Dad," she cringed, she could always get away with being late, but it had never been much of a surprise. The hospital was a busy place and people hardly noticed if you were late on the best of days, but it helped that Arthur had always had a blind spot to Gwen's negative features, "I'll speak to you soon, okay?"

"Okay, sweetheart, bye."

"Bye, Dad. Love you," she said balancing the phone between her ear and her shoulder so she could remove the teabags from the cups.

"Love you too, pumpkin."

They both hung up at the same time. Gwen discarded the phone on the side and picked up the two cups and headed towards their bedroom, "Time to get up," she urged placing the mugs on the side and prodding him in the side with her ringed finger on her left hand.

"Good morning, my future wife," he grinned sleepily as he rubbed his eyes.

"Sleep well, future husband?" she grinned in return. He reached out his hand to massage her bump. She interlocked her fingers with his and placed her left hand on top looking down at the newest development in their relationship.

"Best night's sleep I've had in a long time."

"Me too," she picked up her cup of tea and smiled as her engagement ring clinked on the china, "But we have to go to work."

"Shame."

"I know, and as much as I would love to sit here all day, we have news."

"Can't I just have you all to myself?" he probed running his thumb over the back of her hand.

"I'm all yours, until death do us part, remember," she leant forwards and pressed her lips to his, "I'm happy, I just want people to know."

"Your wish is my command"

"I like that."

"Don't get used to it. It's a honeymoon period thing, I'm sure of it," a grin broke out over Gwen's face again and she pulled him up from the bed to kiss him again, "Though, when you put it like that, I'm sure I can make the period stretch as long as possible."

x

Gwen burst into the Doctor's lounge and let out a frustrated sigh. Morgana looked over at her from her seat on the lumpy sofa and smiled at her sympathetically, "Tough day?"

"I can't see my feet, and they hurt. My legs hurt. My back hurts. I can't concentrate for my than a minute and Arthur's really starting to get on my nerves," Gwen vented feeling a little better after she was done.

"Really?" Morgana raised a sceptical eyebrow and smirked, "That's why you've got a new ring?"

Gwen looked at her hand and smiled, "I was going to tell you."

"It's okay," Morgana raised her hands and clapped them together, "you've not had five minutes to do so yet. How about we do this again and you can tell me?"

Gwen laughed and dealt, shaking Morgana's hand. She turned back to walk out of the Doctor's Lounge and shut the door again. Leon gave her a questioning look having just seen her go in, "Don't ask."

She re-entered the lounge with an amused smile on her face, "Hi Morgana."

"Gwen! Fancy seeing you here!" the pair of them laughed, Gwen sat down on the sofa next to her and held up her hand, "Oh my god," Morgana gasped dramatically grabbing Gwen's hand and pulling it towards her, "When did he ask?"

"Last night."

"What did he do? What's the story?" Now she genuinely was interested. She'd known he was planning on it, anybody who knew him at all knew it was coming; she just hadn't expected it quite yet. She knew that Gwen had had reservations about further developments.

"We were having a bath-"

"TMI, Gwen," Morgana jokingly covered her ears and shook her head trying to rid herself of the mental image, "Tee. Em. Eye."

"Well we were!"

Morgana held up her hands in protest to any further images of her brother and her best friend nakedly cajoling in water bubbly water, "Carry on."

"We were discussing _Blobby's_ allegiance to either football or rugby-"

"Arthur was football," Morgana confirmed, knowing him all too well.

"Of course, and when we were relaxing he asked me."

Morgana's shoulders sagged, "That's it?" she replied disappointed expecting some large romantic affair with speeches and serenading. She wasn't ashamed to admit she had read Arthur's diary when they were younger. Back in the day when he'd kept one, anyway. Back in the day when neither of them knew Gwen. Morgana was surprised to find out that her step-brother was actually quite the soppy romantic.

"There was bit of a speech. Anyway, he's asked me before."

"Whoa! What? When?" Morgana exclaimed, astounded that she wasn't already privy to this golden nugget of information.

Gwen shrugged, "About a month ago when we were painting the nursery."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I said no," despite telling Morgana this information now she knew the actual engagement news would outshine it when she next saw Arthur so wouldn't tease him too badly about it.

"Why?"

"Because we were inhaling paint fumes and he hadn't even got a ring."

"All about the ring?" Morgana smirked, "Gwen your shallowness shocks me."

"That wasn't it at all," Gwen hit her upside the arm and laughed before returning to complete seriousness once again, "I didn't feel ready to be anybody's wife. I barely feel ready enough to be somebody's mother, both at once was a bit too much."

"And now?" Morgana asked intrigued as to what had changed in the lat few weeks to make Gwen change her mind.

"Now? I thought screw it. We don't have to get married right away, and I know I love him. I know he loves me, so where is the harm in it? Where's the harm in being engaged to the man I plan on spending the rest of my life with?" It wasn't something she ever thought she would say, but that was life for you; always taking you in directions you never thought you would go in.

"I'm happy for you, Gwen," she pulled her friend into a tight hug.

"What about you and Merlin?" Gwen teased. Morgana pulled away from her and smiled awkwardly.

"Let's not go there. Me and Merlin? We're happy where we are; unlike you two we're happy taking our time."

"Hey!" Gwen pouted at her friend but only laughed. Gwen had never thought that she would be the girl with the unconventional life. She saw herself aged thirty getting married to some chilled out artistic type and maybe having a child or two after a few years living the happily married life. She had never seen herself engaged to Arthur Pendragon and already expecting their first child at the age of twenty-six. It certainly wasn't what she had expected, but most of her wouldn't have it any other way (the uncertain part of her still wanted the artistic type and kids after thirty.)

"You're the one that got pregnant out of wedlock and without a boyfriend," her friend had a point. Gwen could see how anybody outside of their troupe could think the whole ordeal a _little_ odd.

"At least he wasn't a stranger."

"Good job the pair of you belong together," Morgana got up from the sofa in order to pour herself a cup of coffee from the pitiful supply in the pot, "even if you did hate him at the time."

"I did not!"

"Yes you did," Morgana turned back towards her friend and pointing her bony finger at her accusatively. She remembered all too well quite how 'disgusted' with herself Gwen had been when she first admitted to Morgana what had happened. Truth be known the raven haired beauty didn't know who she felt more sorry for, her traumatised friend or her step-brother who had finally gotten what he had always wanted only to have completely cocked it up leaving the girl thinking that _he_ thought it was all a big mistake.

"If I hated him I wouldn't have gone and gotten drunk with him."

"Or had mad passionate sex and kept the baby," Morgana said punctuating her sentence by taking a sip from her cup.

"It sounds completely insane when you put it like that."

"It _is_ completely insane," Morgana raised an eyebrow at her friend. They looked at each other for a second before bursting into laughter.

"I've obviously lost it."

"They say love makes you do crazy things."

x

One thing Gwen never thought she'd find amusing to watch was Arthur trying to follow instructions. They hadn't lasted long. He'd thrown them away after deciding that attempting to follow them would cause him more confusion than they would help.

He wasn't doing too badly in all honesty. It was mostly going to plan. He was currently using a mallet to hit a dowel into place-

"OWHFUCKWANKSHITBUGGERINGOWH!"

"Arthur, stop it," Gwen chastised, hitting him around the back of the head with the rolled up instructions he had chosen to ignore, "the baby will hear you!"

"I hit my finger," Arthur said as he sucked on the appendage, making his words slurred and near inaudible.

"I gathered that from the swearing," Gwen poked. Despite not using the instructions, he wasn't doing a bad job of fixing together the flat pack crib that they had decided on. It wasn't complicated by any means, but Gwen was convinced he'd missed out something somewhere. Arthur wasn't Mr Fix-it at all.

"It hurt."

"I got that too," she took his hand from his mouth and placed a kiss to his injured finger, "Better?"

"A bit," he replied coyly.

She kissed his finger again, each of the three falanges that made it up, followed by the palm of his hand, "Nearly," she shook her head once and laughed before pushing onto her toes to kiss him on the cheek, "Still hurts a bit," he mumbled once she'd planted her feet back on the floor. He stooped and placed a light kiss to her lips.

"Better y-"

He caught her lips again running his tongue over her bottom lip. He pulled away again and stepped away when Gwen moved to kiss him again, "I think I'm okay."

She glared at him and pushed on his arm, "Build," she ordered and headed over to the sofa to watch.

"Yes boss."

"No talking," he zipped his lips and turned back to his work. He lifted one of the sides to another aligning the dowels to the holes so he could attach them, "You're doing it wrong."

"Shut up."

"Well if it all falls apart…"

He ignored her.

x

Somebody was frantically knocking on the door. Arthur knew it would be one, or two, of three people. His father, who would usually phone before arriving, Morgana, who wouldn't, or Merlin, who would probably be with Morgana anyway. They were the only people who would come up without ringing having been let in by the doorman.

"What are you guys doing here?" Arthur asked as he opened the front door to be greeted, to no surprise, by his sister and her boyfriend.

"Well for once we all have a day off _and_ it's sunny for the end of September," Morgana said inviting herself in through the door, "So, we thought that we would treat the pair of you to a picnic in the park."

"We've got strawberries," Merlin waved the punnet in the air and smiled, "And cream. Tea, chocolate, biscuits. Every other unhealthy picnic food under the sun."

"Somebody mentioned Strawberries and cream?" Gwen appeared from the bathroom, her hair still damp from her shower and tied back in a low ponytail with a few escaped hairs hanging around her face, "I'm there."

"Arthur?"

"Sure, why not," he gave in heading over to pocket his wallet, Blackberry and keys.

x

"I thought you said you could play Frisbee?" Merlin shouted at Arthur after he legged it after the disc Arthur had just thrown towards him. It had spun out thirty metres the wrong way.

"I can. I meant to do that," Arthur said defensively as he jogged back over to the two females who wee sat gossiping on the picnic blanket as they watched the two males throw the Frisbee at each others heads with as much accuracy as they could muster.

Arthur flopped down to the ground next to his fiancée. He took a swig of water from his bottle and settled himself.

Gwen shifted so she was sat in-between Arthur's outstretched legs on the tartan blanket that the other couple had provided. They were sat in the middle of the grass in Hyde Park on a weekday afternoon surrounded with half eaten plates of food and half-empty bottles of mineral water and unhealthily sugary fizzy drinks.

"I swear you are like the most prepared parents I've ever met."

"And how many of your friends have kids, Morgana?" Gwen asked her as Merlin walked back to the group of them twirling the Frisbee around on his fingers.

"None, but we meet a lot of expecting mothers in our line of work; and they always seem to not have anything ready. You two have the nursery ready; you have names; you pretty much bought the entire content of Mothercare-"

"That was you," Gwen stated reaching forwards to grab another strawberry from the speedily emptying punnet.

"Not the point," Morgana raised her hands in innocence from her leant back position soaking up the last of the summer sun, "You have everything now _apart_ from the baby."

"We don't get a lot of time," Arthur reasoned with his hand resting on Gwen's midriff, his drink clasped in the other, "We had to grab it when we had it."

"And thus are prepared how many weeks in advance?" Morgana asked shading her eyes in order to look at the expecting couple in font of her.

"Only ten," Gwen defended, to her, compared to the thirty weeks she'd already endured – granted only twenty-two of those actually be aware of the situation – of her pregnancy ten weeks wasn't that long.

"Ten? That's two and a half months. You're going to get so bored."

"It would be a nice chance to relax."

"Of course."

"If we hadn't pretty much gotten everything ready yet we wouldn't be here now," Arthur stated finally.

"You mean you wouldn't," Arthur looked down at Gwen with a raised eyebrow in question to her comment, "Strawberries and cream."

"Not forgetting chocolate and tea," Merlin offered after a silence; the pair of ex-roommates high-fived.

"Your cuteness, it kills me," Morgana laughed, "Why were you never this adorable, Arthur?"

"Because unlike Merlin; I'm manly. Manly men don't get called cute."

"No," Morgana snorted a laugh, "they just get called brutish and annoying."

"And what does that make you, the non-cute females?"

"Sassy and amazing," she held her hands out and flexed her fingers in a jazz-hand movement.

Arthur visibly considered her words with a slight tilt of his head with an unsure smile on his face to annoy her, "One out of two, perhaps."

"More than I thought you'd give me. Don't tell me you've grown as a person?" she feigned shock and held her hand to her chest.

"Then I won't," he replied smugly swiping a biscuit from the packet.

"Wow, Gwen, you've made the annoying step-brother less, um, annoying."

"Eloquence and Morgana; a match made in heaven," he uttered sarcastically with a smirk on his face. Gwen hit him hard in the stomach.

"And the jerk returns," Morgana snidely raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips.

"What can I say; you make me a worse sort of man."

"So easily influenced, dearest brother."

"So easily annoyed, dearest sister."

"Screw you," she flicked a crumb at him. He fell back in a mock death, pulling Gwen down with him. She struggled against him and let out a shrill laugh.

"And then world war three broke out and we all died. The end," Merlin concluded reaching out for the flask of hot water.

Gwen righted herself and edged towards the younger male, "One can only hope."

"Tea?" he offered holding out a plastic mug to her.

She accepted it gratefully, "Thought you'd never ask."

"Not offering around, Merlin, that's very _rude_," Arthur pushed himself up onto his elbows to chastise his friend, poking him with the toe of his shoe. Merlin batted him away and looked at him unimpressed.

"It's a grown up drink, for grown up people," Merlin said through squinted eyes.

Arthur raised an eyebrow and laughed, "The runt says to the attending doctor?"

"Pfft, don't pull rank," Merlin disregarded and gave Gwen a teabag to put into her water-filled cup.

"Why not?" Arthur shrugged still laying back on the grass, "Works."

"Makes you come across as a _bit_ of a prat," Gwen couldn't help but smile at the pair of them. Arthur sat up to defend himself, dislodging Gwen slightly from her seated position. She batted him away as he slipped his arms back around her.

"And for that you," Arthur pointed at Merlin, "are on bedpan duty for a week."

"Oh the pain," Merlin offered the milk to Gwen who poured it into her plastic mug and stirred. She only added one sugar and settled back against Arthur, "when am I not?"

"It will be all you do, all week."

"Sounds like a challenge. Bring it."

"And so it starts," Morgana stated stealing the chocolate bar from Merlin's hand that he had just picked out of the picnic basket.

"Hey!"

"Who bought it?"

"I did."

"Liar."


	17. Down That Road Again

**Eep, sorry I totally forgot to update this here; to make up for it here is part 16 and 17 =]**

**Part Sixteen**

There was a big white signed on the lift doors and Gwen sighed as she read it, i_Out of Order due to Maintenance works./i_ Living on the third floor was great to avoid the noise of the street but climbing stairs with already aching feet and at near seven months pregnant it wasn't so fun.

After reaching the top of the stairs Gwen felt like she had just scaled Everest. She was really looking forward to a nice relaxing bath now.

However, being confronted by two Pendragons on entering her home, Gwen couldn't help but be suspicious. Especially with the pair of them hunched over the dining table talking to each other animatedly. All ideals of her actually getting to relax left her.

Gwen frowned and approached them without taking off her coat or discarding her bag like usual. They hadn't even noticed her come in until she swiped the brochure they were pawing over from their sights.

"How can you be thinking about Schools when the Baby isn't even born yet?" She uttered in surprised on seeing the subject of their scrutiny. Arthur's school was emblazoned on the front of the brochures. She'd recognise it anywhere having visited it a few times to see Morgana.

"You need to get in early if you want to get a space," Arthur reasoned reaching out to grab the booklet back from her. She moved to hold it above her head. Arthur smirked, raising an eyebrow and standing up. He didn't so much tower over her but his added height aided him when it came to plucking the paper from her hands. His father laughed.

Gwen looked down at him with a raised eyebrow. She still wasn't used to seeing Uther relaxed. Whenever he'd been at the townhouse when she had visited he had barely recognised her presence. She should have expected that to change being the mother of his first grandchild, but it still seemed surreal to her.

"Alexandria Jamie Amelia Ewan doesn't even have a specific gender yet," she said trying to grab the booklet back off of him only to have him pass it to his father who held it down out of her reach. She spotted the forms on the table top then and her eyes bulged, "My god, are you actually filling these out?" she grabbed them up from the wooden surface and laughed, "What do you plan on writing? 'Date of Birth: December, maybe'?" she read the first filled out section, "Who even decided this baby was having your name for certain? We're not even married."

"Not yet," he smirked knowing she was only joking.

"These are some of the top schools in the country, Guinevere, we are merely preparing," Uther inputted smiling at his future daughter-in-law. It was still something she had to get used to, Uther treating her normally. She'd even heard him laugh a moment earlier which had been enough to scare her slightly.

"Just stop. I've still got two months left carrying your i_prodigy_/i child, let's at last leave all this a year before you go shipping them off to- god, wherever it is!"

"Gwen, you have to get in early," Arthur repeated looking to his father for support; he nodded.

"Yes, you also have to have a child!"

"Okay, okay, we're sorry," Gwen relinquished the form, allowing Arthur to place it back on the table top, "We'll finish that later," he mumbled quietly to Uther.

"Arthur!"

"Alright, I'm sorry!"

"Now I'm going to make a cup of tea, I'd prefer the paper work to be away by the time I'm done."

"Yes M'am."

She flicked on the kettle and turned back, "Then I'm going to have a bath. The lift is bust and my feet are killing me."

The two Pendragons did as she asked. By the time she'd made her cup of tea the papers were safely thrown in the bin to Gwen's pleasure. She made her tea and disappeared into the bathroom with her tea in her hand and tuned on the taps.

Arthur waited until he heard the lock go on the bathroom door before he reached into the bin to retrieve it.

"Put it back!" he heard he shout from the other side of the locked door.

He dropped it and looked guiltily at the floor.

x

They were being slammed; patient after critical patient coming in followed by traumas and an endless line in the outpatient clinic that wouldn't go down. The nurses were run of their feet and those who were incarcerated in trauma were doing so many things at once nobody quite knew which way was up anymore, so trying to dig their way out of the mess wasn't happening anytime soon.

Doctor's Pendragon and Le Fey were running the shift the best they could only to have another trauma announced over the intercommunication system between hospitals telling them that they were the best hope of the latest victims surviving. They had the room. They had the knowledge and the doctors so accepting it wasn't the issue.

The issue with the case came much later on.

"Chase in a tube station, pregnant female approximately twenty-eight yeas old fell ten feet down the steps when the assailants pushed past. Unconscious. Steady pulse and good BP."

"Trauma one," Leon commanded as he guided the paramedics through the department.

A man came though behind them holding an ice pack to his hand and with a bandage wrapped about his head, "Gwen?" Morgana called out and beckoned her towards the curtain area to assist her, "I'm Doctor Le Fay and this is Gwen. Sir, can you tell me your name?"

"Daniel," he panted, examining his bruised hand, "Daniel Hillier," he answered.

"Okay, Daniel, can you tell me what happened?"

"I need to see my wife," he moved to stand up off of the bed only to have Morgana put a firm hand on his shoulder to ensure he remained seated. "I need to know she's okay."

"She's in the best hands we have," Gwen assured taking the ice pack from him to allow a fuller examination to be completed.

His concentration left them, staring towards the trauma rooms, "Will she be okay?"

"We can't know for sure," Morgana said tactfully.

"I need to know."

"Daniel, you need to let us check and wrap your hand. Then we can let you stand in with your wife. But you must let us make sure you're okay first."

x

"We need to re-inflate her lung!" Leon ordered. They'd gotten her tubed and done the full exam in record time. The machines beeped a more insane tune, "Now!"

x

Morgana checked the x-ray in her hand to show her patient, "It's not broken, so we'll just wrap it and I'll have to demand you keep ice on it as much as you can."

x

"Maternity," Doreen announced entering the trauma room and being offered her size of gloves and a gown.

"Foetal heartbeat is down in the sixties. Mother's not fairing much better. We don't know how much longer we can keep her going," Leon informed her.

"Emergent surgery."

"She's not stable enough to move," Arthur replied as her heartbeat stopped, "Lost of pulse. Starting compressions."

"Then we do it down here."

x

"There you go, Mr Hillier," Gwen smiled flattening the other piece of tape to the bandage. Morgana approached the look on her face was grim.

"Daniel, if you'd like to come with me," she asked sombrely.

"What is it, what's wrong?" he panicked jumping from the bed he'd been treated on and approached Morgana.

"I need you to come with me," Morgana explained the situation to him as they approached the trauma room, pausing outside for her to explain. Tears started to fall down his face, "We need your permission, as next of kin, to perform a caesarean section. We believe that the baby stands a good chance."

"And Carrie?"

"They've been working on her for the last thirty minutes. Her lung had deflated, and the injuries to her hand caused severe damage to her internal organs."

"She's going to die?"

"Her chance will improve if you let us do the surgery. But we can not guarantee that by performing the caesarean section and doing all repair work, the chances of her survival are slim. I need you to understand this."

"And if you don't do the surgery."

"Her chances are closer to zero."

"Do it," he cried looking through the glass in the door, "Do it."

x

It wasn't an easy procedure. They had to keep the mother alive so they could ensure the foetus' chances remained as high as possible. Each member of medical staff working on the case knew the chances of the mother making it through surgery were slim. They kept her heart pumping during the caesarean section to give the child a fighting chance.

"Arthur, swap out," Leon instructed. The younger male agreed and counted. Leon placed his hand over Arthur's on the first count. Compressed with him on the second and Arthur withdrew his hands on the third. A swift move they'd practised many times.

The doctors lifted the baby to a side table, a cry sounding out much to people's relief, "Get the father in here."

Arthur beckoned for Mr Hillier to enter.

"You have a healthy baby boy," Doreen announced as she finished up her procedure.

"We can't get her back," Arthur informed the new father, "We've been working on her for an hour. There has been a lack of oxygen to her brain. There's nothing more we can do."

"You can't stop! You can't!"

"I'm sorry Mr Hillier."

Leon halted compressions and a sour beep sounded from the machine, "Time of death, nine forty two."

"No. You have to help her. I can't do this on my own."

"I'm sorry, Mr Hillier, we did everything we could. Her injuries were too severe."

"No."

"I'm sorry," with a sympathetic hand on his arm, Arthur led him to his wife's bedside to say goodbye, "Take as long as you need."

He clenched his jaw, looking briefly at Leon before he took off towards the door. He violently pulled off his gloves and trauma scrub and screwed it into a ball. He took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling as he exhaled.

Morgana saw him as she spoke to Merlin by the drug lock-up door. Merlin moved to talk to him, but Morgana stopped him and pulled him away, muttering something to him.

Arthur discarded his trauma kit in the bin outside the trauma room door as he headed towards the Doctor's lounge. He clenched his jaw and slammed down into the sofa. He rubbed his hands over his face and let out a long shaky sigh. For the last few months he had tried his hardest not to think about the circumstances of his own birth. He knew I was something that his father thought about often and Arthur realised that it was the sole reason he had found it hard to connect to his son.

The Senior Pendragon had seen his late wife in his son everyday, making it even harder to reach out. With the years flying by, the pair of them had worked past it. Though he felt like a strong person, Arthur didn't know if he could deal with losing Gwen and raising their son or daughter without her faced with a part of her everyday. He could fully understand now why his father had had a hard time coming to terms with raising him.

If he was completely honest with himself, he didn't think he could.

He wasn't surprised, when the door opened behind him, to see Gwen standing in the doorway. He suspected Merlin or Leon had found her sending her his way.

She didn't say anything as she shut the door and headed over to sit on the sofa next to him, automatically reaching to pull him into her embrace. It wasn't something they had talked about in great detail. Gwen knew everything courtesy of Morgana and she'd been expecting the subject to surface, but not quite so brutally.

Arthur pulled away from her and stood without saying a word. Gwen didn't say anything either. She watched him wrench the door open and leave without looking back at her. She dry swallowed but didn't move to go after him. If he needed to be alone she wouldn't follow him. She didn't want an argument. When and if he needed her he knew where she'd be.

x

Leon stood behind the reception desk finishing up his paperwork from the trauma case when he saw Arthur take off out into the rain without as much as a coat on his back. His gaze flicked towards the Doctor's Lounge, he didn't see Gwen. He frowned and decided that leaving Arthur alone wouldn't be the best idea.

"I'll be back in five," he announced headed towards the door and grabbing an umbrella from the bucket by the door, "Anything you need me to sign can wait five minutes."

He jogged across the ambulance bay towards the coffee shop he saw Arthur push into through the downpour.

Arthur didn't even bother queuing up. He was slummed into one of the armchairs in the corner surrounded by the booth wall hiding him from the world. There was a discarded mug on the table in front of him and a wrapper from a biscuit.

Leon approached him and sat down opposite.

Arthur didn't say anything at first. They sat in silence for a minute before the younger man became vocal; "I don't want to talk about it."

"I didn't think you did," Leon admitted, "Which would be why you left Gwen in the lounge."

"Is she mad?" Arthur cringed slightly. He just wanted to sort his head out on his own accord. He knew he could rely on Gwen to help him whenever he needed it, but give it nine weeks and she'd be depending on him to help her. If he couldn't deal with his own mentality how was he meant to help anybody else?

"I didn't see her. But I can imagine she's feeling the blow of her fiancée walking off and not talking to her. She was hoping to help."

"Nobody can help. This is something I have to deal with on my own."

"Really? Because last time I checked the pair of you were in this together."

"It's not about us."

"We all know what it's about, Arthur, but maybe she might be the best person to talk to about this. It's her you're worried about."

"In a matter of weeks I'll be the one who two people are relying on. One of them can't do a thing for their self," Arthur stated leaning his elbows on the table in front of him, "How can I expect to look after them if I can't sort myself out?"

"This is slightly different, mate," Leon reasoned, "You will look after them, fight for them, do everything you can for them. Nothing will stop you from doing that," he said leaning back in his chair. He kept eye contact with his young counterpart with a sincere look, "I think talking might be your best option here," he said truthfully, "Open up. It's not your best quality, everybody knows you like to keep things to yourself and beat yourself up about it; but it's your best option.

"Talk to her."

x

Arthur's shift finished two hours after Gwen's, so when he finally reached home at gone ten and Gwen was already gone from the main room of the apartment. He could see the light shining from underneath their bedroom door.

He abandoned his jacket on the breakfast bar stool and his satchel by the foot of it and kicked off his shoes leaving them in a pile. Bed was where he wanted to be and perhaps he could avoid the conversation he didn't really want to have. Deep down he knew that it wasn't something he'd get away with it. She'd be awake and reading with the light on as it was.

She didn't look up from her book as he opened the door. She kept reading.

He slipped off his trousers and boxers and pulled on his jogging bottoms before he unbuttoned his shirt and discarded it on his pile of clothes. He climbed quietly under the duvet and sneaked a look at Gwen. She wasn't reading. Just staring at the page before her. He settled down under the cover, lying on his back and shutting his eyes.

If he didn't talk he could avoid the conversation as long as possible.

After a few minutes Gwen closed her book and put it on the bedside table before turning out her lamp leaving the room in darkness.

Arthur felt the mattress move beside him as Gwen shifted. He hadn't expected her to cuddle up to him but when she shuffled into his side with her baby bump resting against his side and her head rested on his shoulder he welcomed her with an arm wrapping around her shoulders and placed his other hand over where he estimated their baby's head to be.

"Arthur," she murmured into crook of his neck, "I know you're freaking out, but the chances of the same happening to me are slim," she ran her hand over his bare chest in a comforting movement.

"But they're there."

Gwen swallowed the lump in he throat and gripped his upper body tighter, "As they have been since the start. I know you're worried, I am too, but just trust me. If anything goes wrong we're in the best place possible."

"And what if it's not here that things go wrong?" Things rarely went to plan. Gwen knew that. The factors surrounding the death of the woman in the emergency department that afternoon hadn't been related to the birth of her child. i_Arthur/i_ knew that but it didn't stop the fright building in him.

"Stop worrying, will you?" Gwen pulled back from him and propped her head on her hand looking down at him in the darkness with her other hand still resting on his skin, "You're starting to scare me, and I don't need it. This is all scary enough without you worrying that I'm going to die. Okay? So stop it," she smiled at him briefly in attempt to make him return it through the darkness, but the solemn look she could make out on his face was enough to rival a kicked puppy.

"But-"

"No," she clapped her hand over his lips stopping him from speaking, "Use your head, Arthur, you know the probabilities. Stop trying to scare yourself. You'll worry yourself into an early grave. I'd rather prefer to i_have_/i my future husband alive, thank you very much."

"My mother-"

"That was a long time ago. Technology has changed since then. Advanced. I know you're worried, and I know you're scared and I i_know_/i you have due cause to be, but you have to think positively. The lady died today because she fell down a flight of stairs, she was fallen onto and had internal bleeding that couldn't be stopped. You saved her baby. I've seen him. I saw to her husband. He's grateful that he didn't lose the pair of them. You did a good job, Arthur, there was nothing you or anybody else could have done to get a better outcome."

"I know, but I couldn't lose you."

"You won't. How many births happen in this hospital everyday?" she asked him looking into his blue eyes, her own now used to the lack of light and able to make out his features before her, "How many of them have sad endings? I know your past experiences don't bare a positive outlook, but you have to look past it and look at the numbers, they are on you side. I'm not going anywhere."

"But-"

"Arthur."

"Sorry."

"I love you, but if you're going to continue to be depressing about I'll go," he nodded biting the inside of his cheek. She shifted to lie her head against his shoulder again, "We're not going anywhere."

With one hand buried in her hair and the other around her middle Arthur clung to her. Breathing her in, not wanting to let her go.

"I love you so much," he placed a kiss to her hair. She pulled back slightly and angled her head to kiss him properly. She yawned when she rested her head back on the pillow ready to settle down for the night.

Gwen sat with her socked feet up on the coffee table, relaxing back into the plush cushions on the sofa. It had been a tough day yesterday but it was over now. With the kettle boiling for one final relaxing cup of tea before having to head back into the hospital for another day, she had never more felt like she needed it.

At least the lift was in working order and they wouldn't have to walk down the stairs which would take twice as long when Gwen could bound and jump down the steps like she would otherwise.

Arthur moved over to the sofa as the kettle boiled and lay down with his head in Gwen's lap.

"What are you doing?" she asked, her fingers running though his hair.

"I haven't had the chance to say hello yet today," he said moving one hand to trace over her bump. Gwen laughed. She laid back into the sofa again and closed her eyes. The massaging movement of his hand soothing her, "Hey Blobby," he mumbled, "I can't wait to meet you. Who you going to be, hmm? Alexandria Amelia? Hmm? Or Benjamin Ewan?"

"Alexandria."

"Benjamin."

"You're wrong."

"Well Merlin agrees with you and he's not going to be right, is he?" The kettle popped and Arthur stood up, kissing Gwen on the cheek as he rose from the sofa.

"I don't think genetics will change because of what Merlin thinks."

"No, but because he's chosen girl, I'm determined to prove him wrong."

"What do you think, baby? Is Daddy right?" she rubbed her hand over her midriff and shook her head, "No reaction. Daddy's wrong."

"We've had this conversation before. No reaction means agreement."

"Only so you're right," he grinned and presented her with a cup of hot tea, "thank you."

"And you're right. But when am I ever wrong?"

Gwen raised an eyebrow at him, "I won't even dignify that with an answer."


	18. The Beginning of the End

**Part Seventeen  
AN - All of the medical stuff in this chapter comes from ER. This story was always a Merlin/ER, Arthur and Gwen as Abby and Luka type story. So the dialogue surround medical situations belongs to them.**

"Well this is really depressing."

"What is?" Arthur asked abandoning his satchel in his locker. He turned around and saw his fiancée stood looking down at her self, scrub shirt sitting above her bump with her black cami on show beneath. He frowned at her quizzically with an amused smile on his face.

"I'm totally stretching the largest size of nursing scrub there is," she complained pulling the material over with a great effort. She sighed angrily, looking up at Arthur, "Why aren't there any extra large ones?"

"Never needed them before," he shrugged, trying his hardest not to laugh at her as she stood looking at the stretched material, "Here," he reached into the store in the corner of the room and pulled out a large sized Doctor's scrub, "Try that."

"And match you?" she teased pulling the nurse scrub off over her head. She accepted the green shirt from Arthur and pulled it on over her stretched black top. He couldn't help but stare at the cause of her current minor distress. She lowered the bottom of the shirt over her bump, "How's that?" she asked modelling it comically, flicking her hair over her shoulder for comic effect.

"Beautiful."

"Damn, was going for sexy chic," she joked running her hands down her sides. She stood with her hands resting on her hips smiling at Arthur.

"Sorry, I didn't realise Doctor's scrubs were sexy chic."

"Why else do you think I slept with you?" she jibed. Arthur looked mock-offended as he walked across the lounge towards her.

"Oh that's how it is?" he asked, slipping his hands around her waist, resting them atop her own.

"Oh yeah," she replied smugly before she giggled. Arthur swooped in pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Come on, patients await your new incredibly sexy look."

"Oh I'm sure they do," they exited the Doctor's lounge and headed towards admit for Arthur to get the low down from the night shift and Gwen to pick up charts and start IVs.

"See, now, that's cute," Morgana laughed, guzzling on a cup of coffee Leon had just presented her with from his trip across the road, "Thanks."

"You two should wear matching outfits all the time," Leon laughed offering Arthur another cup, "And hot chocolate and shot for the sexily dressed pregnant lady."

"I told you, doctor's scrubs are sexy chic," she accepted her cup from the other doctor, "Thank you."

"Any time."

"Let's get this shift on the road," Arthur commanded, picking up the, thankfully few, remaining charts and handing them to the nightshift for a round up.

"Where's Merlin?" Gwen asked Morgana as the two men started running through the cases with the other Doctor's.

"He'll be in later. He's doing the afternoon/evening/half the night, shift thing," she replied dejectedly, taking a sip from her coffee and half-listening to what was being said.

"Ouch, who did he piss off?"

"No idea, means I'm eating alone," she fiddled with the lid of her coffee, pulling it off and replacing it.

"Come over after work, there's only so many nights you can spend alone with Arthur."

"I heard that," Arthur said looking over his shoulder, his smile betraying his glare.

"Sorry sweetie. I better go. IVs to do and bedpans to clean."

"Slow down, you might injure yourself," Morgana laughed taking Gwen's hot cup from her as she walked away. She put the cup down on the side, scribbling a note, 'Gwen's hands off' and turned her attention to the information being reeled off at her.

x

Friday night and the emergency room was full of rowdy teenagers who had fallen over themselves and drunken fools who had had far too much to drink all over which needed medical attention in one way or another. One of them was wheeled through the doors from the ambulance bay by the drivers.

Gwen exited the exam room having just changed a dehydration drip on a teenager. William appeared at the side of the gurney and listened as the ambulance driver reeled off the man's vitals. The man on the gurney lashed out, William grabbing a hold of his flailing arms and pinning them down.

"Sir, you will have to calm down if you want us to treat you," the doctor said calmly, looking the man sternly in the eye only to be ignored.

"I don't want you to treat me! Get the fuck off of me!" The man shouted, hitting his hand out again smacking William in the chest.

"Sir, calm down. You've got a gash on your head and blood all over yourself, the sooner you let us treat you the better," William reasoned. Gwen had taken a step back as the turned the corner into the curtain space.

"Get the fuck off of me!" the man shouted again, pulling his arm away from William and flinging his limbs out again aiming for anything that was in his way.

Arthur heard the commotion from down the corridor. He finished up writing the chart for the six-year-old with a head lac and made his way down to find out what was going on. If they needed an extra pair of hands he could help; if they needed the situation detained he could get security on standby.

"Sir," Gwen started, "I realise you do not want to be here," Gwen stated as she held the man's arm to the bed with both of her own hands, rational thinking and behaviour usually helped to resolve situations. Talking to those who were unwilling would normally defuse anything from blowing up and convince the involved parties to behave.

"You got that fucking right!" Despite being held down by a number of hospital staff the man still struggled against them all trying to free his hands and feet from their human confines.

"But it will take us ten minutes to clean you up and check you out. If you just let us-"

He managed to free his arm from Gwen's grasp with a sharp tug that caught her unaware, pulling her towards the bed slightly. The violent drunk threw his arm out right into her. She cried out in shock as she lost her balance, falling back. She flung her hands out behind her to cushion her fall. She landed hard on the side of her hip and winced.

William abandoned the drunk in order to crouch beside the nurse, "Okay?" he asked, she nodded in reassurance with her hand rubbing her side, "Do you want me to check you over?"

"No thank you, William, I'm fine," she attempted a smile at his worried expression.

Arthur abandoned the side of the patient, dashing around the bed and joined William crouching by her side, "Guinevere, are you okay?" He tucked her hair behind her ear, running his hand down her back resting on the small of it.

Arthur abandoned the side of the patient, dashing around the bed and joined William crouching by her side, "Guinevere, are you okay?" He tucked her hair behind her ear, running his hand down her back resting on the small of it.

"I'm fine, Arthur, honestly," she reassured as the other nurses and doctors restrained the rampant man; William stood to assist them. Arthur helped Gwen to stand, one hand on her bump, the other on her crooked elbow.

"You're okay?"

"We're okay," he looked at her in concern for a while longer, "Arthur, we're fine," he nodded and accepted it. The drunken man roared in anger.

"Somebody get the restraints," Arthur ordered, helping William to pin down the man.

Gwen brushed herself off and moved away to attend to other patients, not wanting to risk any more incidents. Perhaps a sickly child who wouldn't be able to floor her would be good. It would certainly be preferred.

x

Gwen signed the chart, looking for Arthur to sign it off – so much signing - before the girl could be discharged with her antibiotics.

She smiled as she saw him walking past the exam rooms to the admin desk. It soon faded when a sudden pain shot through her abdomen. She doubled over with the pain, hand clutching her at her bump, "Gwen?" Arthur panted having run the distance between them at seeing her in pain, "What's wrong?"

She could feel a warm dampness between her legs, as she looked up at the baby's father and withdrew her hand from checking. Her hand was red.

"Merlin!" Arthur shouted, the male nurse there in a second, "Get her on a bed. Now."

Worried - though not as much as his frantic boss - Merlin guided Gwen into the nearest exam room, helping her onto the bed. He pulled the curtain across the centre of the room to block her off from prying eyes.

"Are you okay?" he asked stupidly. This was too early. She had eight weeks left before she came to term. He didn't need to be an expert to know she was terrified, he could see it.

"Little scared," she admitted, trying to keep collected. They didn't need this. Everything had been going okay and anything but would only send Arthur into over drive.

"Arthur will be back in a minute," Wherever he is, Merlin admitted only to himself trying his hardest to reassure Gwen with a semi-comforting hand on her shoulder.

x

Arthur charged through the reception area, looking every which way for Morgana. He needed somebody else to be the doctor in this case; he didn't trust himself to act with professionalism when it came to Gwen. He certainly hadn't before.

"Leon?" Arthur called out on seeing the older doctor across the department, "Have you seen Morgana?"

"She's the Attending-on-case with the trauma that just rolled in," Arthur's jaw clenched, he knew Gwen would rather have Morgana at her side through anything, but if he couldn't provide his fiancée with her best friend, he'd have to go for the next best thing.

"Come with me," he ordered, clocking an unused ultrasound in the exam room next to him.

x

Arthur had pulled up a chair and was sat next to Gwen as Leon moved the probe over her abdomen; the black and white image appearing on the screen, the baby with all of its fingers and toes.

"The baby is moving around, nice and healthy," Leon told her. She felt a surge of relief through her worry.

"Congratulations," Arthur whispered into her ear, "We're having a girl," quickly forgetting for all the months he had been swearing blind that the baby was a boy. Then again, he never had admitted before when he was wrong, why would he start now? Not to mention Merlin being right.

"Spoil my fun," she replied, having been able to make out the gender of the baby herself. Arthur placed a succession of quick kisses from her temple to her cheek, relieved smile on his face.

"There could be a placenta praevia," Leon interjected, looking at the screen. Both parents looked at him, "It could explain the bleeding. You may need a c-section."

"I don't need a c-section," Gwen said adamantly. She wasn't having this baby today. She still had seven weeks to go, "Have you called Maternity?"

"They've been called, Gwen."

"Can I go up, please? I need them to tell me. I need them to," she hefted a sigh, panicked tears in the corners of her eyes. She felt Arthur's hand tighten its grip on her own. She looked at him, he was calm and collected, every bit the doctor he was trained to be, "I need them to tell me."

"Okay," Leon consented.

"I'll take her," Arthur said readying her to go, taking the break off of the bed. Merlin moved taking one of the bars and walking along side with him as Arthur drove the bed towards the lift.

"Arthur-"

"Merlin," he cut off sternly, "I'll take her."

Once they'd gotten her into the corridor, Morgana appeared; the case she'd been working not being as desperate they had first thought, "Gwen? Are you okay?" she asked confusion and worry evident on her face as she noted her best friend on the bed being wheeled up the hallway.

"I'm fine; I just landed awkwardly when I fell. They just want to keep an eye on her," Gwen explained. She had to keep herself positive. It was all precautions; they would do his for everybody regardless of how much trouble they were in.

"It's a girl?" Gwen nodded, Morgana gave a pleased smile, "You owe me a tenner," she said to Merlin who still looked grim. It made Gwen laugh, and having been the aim of Morgana's efforts she was pleased it hadn't gone down the wrong way. But it was true; he really did owe her a tenner.

"I'm taking her up to Maternity," Arthur said, dry-swallowing and looking over at his step-sister. She could see he was worried. The shallow line along his forehead, the slight glisten in his eye that she knew meant he was trying his hardest to keep it all together.

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything," she reached out squeezing Gwen's shoulder. Gwen raised her hand laying it over Morgana's.

"Thanks, Morgana."

x

It was a strange position to be in. From usually being the woman sorting the drips and taking note of what the doctor's were saying and procedures they wanted followed she went to being the one who was lost. Gwen was trying to take note of everything they were doing. She was surrounded by two doctors (though one not on duty), and a plethora of nurses. This is what it was like to be a patient in Albion Hospital.

"The baby looks good, but you were definitely contracting," Doreen reported having checked all the machines and the ultrasound. She sat down next to Gwen to get on a more personal level to the nurse.

"I don't feel anything," Gwen argued back, she didn't want this to happen, not today. There were two months left; she wasn't having this baby today. No way. There was too much risk.

"I think the belly trauma put you into preterm labour. Babies' head dropped down; and a little placental bleeding," Doreen explained to her. Gwen knew all this. Arthur knew all this but somewhere in the whole thing reason had been overshadowed by worry.

"Okay, well it's too soon, so give me two terbutaline," Gwen ordered running through all to her mental notes on drugs she had made over the years. Ones she'd seen used ones she had administered over the course of her career, "Mag makes you feel crap, so I might as well start there."

"Terbutaline can mask the signs of abruption," Doreen reasoned looking at Arthur for back-up. The younger Doctor had his hand on Gwen's shoulder gently rubbing his thumb over the gown they had put her in.

"Gwen, today you're the patient, not the nurse," he pressed his lips to the top of her hair, "Let her do her job, 'kay?"

"I'm not having an abruption," she replied determinedly trying not to cry and pulled her head away from him sharply. Her voice cracked causing Arthur to guide her back towards him for added comfort.

"Not right now, but the trauma puts you at risk and if you do abrupt we need to know right away," Doreen said rationally, she tried her hardest to reassure the young nurse.

"So you can do a c-section," Gwen answered dejectedly, linking her fingers through each other and looking down at her hands.

Doreen nodded. Gwen returned the movement, blinking back the tears that were forming. It wasn't meant to be like this, "Give her 4mg then repeat every hour," Doreen ordered the nurse on duty. "You let me know if you have any more pain, okay Gwen?"

"Yeah," her voice cracked. She sniffed and cleared her throat, "Right away."

x

Doreen hurriedly re-entered the room, casting a worried glance towards Arthur who was studying the printout from the machine. He found himself unable to just sit back and do nothing. His partner was in pain and potentially in danger, and he had the power to help.

"How long ago did the pain start?" Doreen asked, taking the reading from Arthur and analysing it.

"About fifteen minutes ago," Arthur replied, he looked between her and Gwen who was sat up in the bed hand running over her midriff repeatedly. They'd called for attention the second the pain had onset, but the other doctor had been with another patient and unable to come straight away. She nodded and asked Gwen to lift her gown.

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad was it?" the Maternal Doctor squeezed some of the cool gel onto her bump, aligning the probe.

"Like a four, maybe, but it's probably just a bruise from where I fell," Gwen reasoned, knowing it was highly unlikely. She'd seen cases like this down in the Emergency Room. Doreen looked at the ultrasound screen, no readable signs on her face.

"There's no evidence of abruption," the maternity doctor said, much to the couple's relief.

"See, I told you," Gwen declared. Doreen ignored her, reeling off a list of tests and labs to be sent off, "What's that for?"

"Only twenty percent of abruptions have an ultrasound finding, let's just send these labs off to be sure, okay?"

"Everything's fine, the baby's good, the heart rate's fine-"

"Gwen," Arthur calmed a hand on her shoulder as he loitered beside her. Gwen glanced at him; she was determined to keep herself together. This baby was _not_ coming today!

"This is what I would say if you weren't a nurse: if the placenta separates from the womb and bleeds then the baby can be deprived of oxygen," Gwen reached her hand up, taking Arthur's from her shoulder and clasping it tightly, "Now, even if we don't see a blood clot the labs will give us advanced warning before the baby is in trouble."

"Okay," Gwen agreed quietly, voice failing her.

"Twelve of betamethison."

"Oh, come on!" Gwen complained loudly. She sat up upright in the bed in attempt to fight her corner.

"We have to mature the babies' lungs in case of an emergent birth."

"No," Gwen repeatedly chanted, pulling her hand out of Arthur's grasp and her other away from the nurse. Doreen looked at Arthur for support but he was too concentrated on trying to calm his partner down, "I've still got two months to go, this baby isn't coming until then!"

"I know that's what we're hoping for but-"

"I can wait two more weeks. The risks are much further down by then. I'll stay in bed, I'll use a bloody bed pan, I will not move!"

"Gwen, I want you to have a healthy baby," Doreen reasoned, ignoring the urgent looks that Arthur was sending her way.

"Then why do you keep focusing on a worst case scenario?"

"That's her job," Arthur snapped at her. Gwen looked at Arthur intent on shooting him down with that alone, but the worried look on his face made her stop. She looked between the two doctors. She was defeated. She let up on the tubes, allowing the nurse to push the drugs into her line.

x

Arthur sat on the visitor's chair, leaning onto the edge of the bed, trying his hardest to keep both their spirits up. He'd resulted to making up stories about how Little Lexie Amelia Pendragon would go on adventures and be the prettiest princess in the land. How she would have Gwen hair and slightly fairer skin and she would spend her days defying her parents in order to live her own happy life, and fall in love with a Frog Prince.

Gwen laughed, relaxed back into her plumped pillows, fiddling with her rings.

Her smile quickly evaporated when a shooting pain passed through her body. Gwen sat upright, one hand clutching her stomach, the other tightening around the bar on the bed. She let out a strangled cry, feeling a rush of liquid.

"What's wrong? Was it a contraction?" Arthur asked, standing up to full attention.

"I think my waters just broke," Gwen answered rationally. Arthur frowned and lifted up the sheet to check. The bed was covered in blood. He clicked into Doctor Mode, adjusting the drip, "What are you doing?"

"Opening up your saline," he charged towards the door, pulling it open, "We need some help in here!"

"Are you sure it's not a contraction?" Gwen asked; her breathing heavy.

"There's nothing on the monitor," the machine started to beep insistently, Arthur checking the screen for information, trying not to let the fact that this was his little girl and his fiancée in danger cloud his judgement.

"What's that?" Gwen panicked, running her palm over her bump.

"Her heart rate is dropping," Arthur told her truthfully, the worry in him was starting to boil over, but he was the only what there to help her, he couldn't break down yet. "Get on your left side," he ordered, Gwen following his instruction as quickly as she could.

Doreen ran back into the room, surveying the scene before her, "Sharp pain, gush of blood," Arthur reported, looking at the paper from the monitor. The other Doctor quickly checked the machinery as Arthur turned back to Gwen.

"The babies' heart rate is in the sixties. We are going to the Operating theatre."

"An abruption?" Gwen knew now that she had no choice but to follow the doctor's orders. This was happening and there was noting they could do about it. Whatever happened, she was having this baby today.

"Looks that way," Doreen confirmed, "General anaesthesia," she ordered to the surrounding nurses as the bed was wheeled out of the private room and into the corridor.

"You're okay," Arthur said, his hand on the top of her head, thumb wiping the loose strands of hair away, "you're going to be okay."

"When they take her to the NICU go with her, okay? I don't want her to be alone," as much as he knew he wouldn't want to leave her, regardless of what happened, but he couldn't go against her wishes. Gwen _would_ be okay.

He watched them wheel her away from him for a second. He knew they would allow him to sit in on the surgery as long as he remained silent and rational during the procedure. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sniffed. Right now he didn't know if he could sit there quietly and not try and interfere.

He felt a cool hand rub on his forearm. He looked up to see Morgana standing next to him, "How long have you been out here?"

"Long enough," she answered quietly rubbing her thumb over his shirt, "She's going to be okay. Both of them," Arthur blinked, and clenched his jaw. Morgana slipped her arm around her brother, pulling him into her. He wrapped himself around her smaller frame, "She's going to need you in there. You don't need to be strong. You just need to be there for her," she felt him nod into her shoulder, "Do you want me to come in with you?"

He pulled away and shook his head fearing that speaking would result in his barriers collapsing completely, "Okay. Go on, you need to scrub in. It's going to be okay."


	19. All About You

**Part Eighteen**

All the machines in the room bleeped out of sync to each other in an annoying odd pattern that was already driving Arthur insane. There were several other pairs of parents and some on their own, watching over their children as they battled their way through. There were those who had been there for weeks, those who had only been there a day. Some had hope and were looking forward to leaving the department with their newborn and others who were worrying and not so likely to be lucky.

Arthur stood watching the rise and fall of his daughter's chest. He logged every small movement and committed them to memory. He knew how her machines were sounding out. He knew every vital about her. He knew how big she was (a tiny, yet relatively healthy, weight of 4lbs and 7oz) and exactly what they were pumping into her (100% oxygen).

He held up his Blackberry, recording the small movements ready to show Gwen when he saw her. Every moment, every small breath all to show her when she woke up. He panicked whenever she held her breath a millisecond longer than she had before or if he didn't notice her chest move.

The doors of the department opened, a nurse greeting whoever had arrived. Arthur slipped his phone back into his pocket; turning to see who it was that had just entered assuming that it would be another parent come back on 'duty' his brow furrowed when he clapped eyes on a familiar face, "Dad?"

"How is the baby?" Uther enquired. One of the healthier babies started to cry over in one of the corners and each shriek stung Arthur more. When she'd first been taken to the small table she'd not cried. There were minutes when Arthur thought that he might lose her. They'd given her air via a bag, pumping at her small heart.

It stretched for forever then they'd carted her off into the NICU, "She's okay. They're concerned about prolonged hypotension," the tears that he hadn't cried for the past hour whilst he'd stood watching her brimmed threatening to fall, "She's on one hundred percent oxygen so there is a risk of toxicity," he choked on his own breath, the tears breaking over and down his cheeks.

Uther pulled his son into his grasp. Arthur fisting his hand in the back of his father's shirt and letting himself cry, "She'll be okay," Uther soothed, "I promise you."

As Father and Son, the pair of them hadn't been the closest of people as Arthur had been growing up. Uther had been busy working, leaving Arthur in the hands of nannies and household staff rather than spending quality time with him. It wasn't until recent years that they had finally seen eye to eye.

"You can't know that," Arthur said pulling away from his father to look at her; the small tag around her tiny wrist reading 'Baby Pendragon'. An acute feeling of pride swelled in Arthur's gut when he read it. He'd stared at it for a long time letting it sink in that it was all real. He was a _father_. He was engaged to be married to the only women he had ever cared about.

"Go, you should be with Gwen when she wakes up," Arthur knew Morgana was sat with her now. He'd seen her on the way out of the theatre and asked her to stay with her, and if Morgana wasn't there then Merlin would be. He could afford to stay here like Gwen had told him to, she had people around her, Alexandria didn't.

"She doesn't want her to be alone," Arthur stated, reaching out a hand to trace a faint line down her short leg, about the only thing not covered in tubes and lines.

"She won't be," Uther placed a comforting hand on his son's shoulder, "Go on," Uther urged. He was ready to set himself down for the next few hours keeping watch on his granddaughter.

The younger man sighed, "I should call Tom," Arthur said withdrawing from his little girl and looking around for the nearest phone.

"Gwen's father?" Uther enquired and Arthur clocked that their parents had never actually met. Now was as good a time as any he supposed.

"Yeah, he's going to want to be here."

"Merlin, is it? Morgana's nurse boyfriend; has already phoned him. He's on his way," Arthur nodded. Of course he had. He made a mental note to thank him later. There was only so much brain power Arthur could give to other things in his life right now. His mind was overrun with thoughts about his daughter, his fiancée and the impending doom that shadowed over him that he just couldn't shake.

He was grateful that Gwen had been given the all clear before he had even dared leave the theatre. The operation had gone according to plan, everything ran smoothly. There had been no outright panic, apart from the long minute where Arthur had stood watching the doctors and nurses work to ensure that their baby was okay.

"Okay, are you sure you want to stay here?" Arthur asked looking between his two living blood relatives, reluctant to leave.

"I'm positive," Uther tentatively smiled guiding his son away from the cot and towards the door, "Now go, she'll be waking up soon."

x

Arthur slowly made his way back down the corridor towards where the nurse had informed him that Gwen had been taken in the brief period between the operation and the room she would reside in for a few days.

He entered the room to see Morgana leaning on her hand with a book in her hands, blankly turning the pages without actually reading a word. She was watching her best friend more than she was actually looking at the book. Gwen was still under but she'd be waking soon enough.

"Hey," he greeted shutting the door behind him.

"Okay?" Morgana asked open ended, she smiled at him having heard from the nurses that the chances of her niece making it through the night were high, and beyond then the outlook was positive. Though the panic etched on his face told her otherwise, unsettling the butterflies in her stomach.

"Dad's with her," he smiled briefly, he looked from Morgana to his sleeping fiancée, "She's so beautiful."

"You've only just noticed? I thought that was what you thought the first time you saw her," Morgana joked in attempt to lighten the mood.

"Must be a bloodline thing. She's going to break hearts one day," he smiled to himself fo the first time since Gwen had fallen. She was his little girl, and she looked just how he imagined Gwen did when she was a baby, and if her mother was anything to go by, Lexie would to cause any male's jaw drop as she walked by, "She looks just like her."

"Oh thank God," Morgana grinned as she exaggeratedly wiped her brow, "I thought she was going to be cursed with your ugly mug."

"Thanks, Morgana."

"I mean it, eesh, I don't know how Gwen puts up with it," she nudged him as she stood up next to him and they both laughed, "I'll leave you alone. The nurse said she'd be back in about five minutes. I'd best go make sure Leon and Merlin haven't blow up the department or something."

"Pass on the news?"

"You couldn't stop me if you wanted to," she smiled. She pulled her step-brother into a tight hug, "Congratulations."

"Thanks," he replied holding her the closest to him that she had ever been.

"You can let go now," she said seriously into his ear and he moved away. She cracked a smile at him and headed to the door, "I'll be back in a few hours. I'll bring you guys some clothes."

"My keys are-"

"In your locker. Your lock combination is 4936*, which, by the way, is really cute," the tops of his ears tinged as his sister grinned at him, "If a little stalkery."

x

Beep.

Beep.

Beep.

"Gwen?" she could hear somebody calling her name. They sounded so far away, "Gwen?" she slowly opened her yes blinked a few times. The world around her coming into focus, "Gwen?"

"Yeah," she answered clearing her throat, her mouth incredibly dry. She turned her head to look at the source of the voice. The blurred outline of her nurse came into focus.

"Welcome back," she smiled. Gwen tried to read her expression for the outcome of the procedure. She didn't look remotely solemn and the smile on her face told her that it was okay. So far so good.

"Guinevere?" she looked around to the end of the bed and spied Arthur sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs the hospital provided.

Her gut churned.

"How is she?" she asked, worry in her voice. If Arthur was with her then maybe it hadn't been a positive outcome, but he didn't look distressed or remotely downhearted, he looked hopeful and pleased. She knew there would be issues and hard times ahead of them, but the hardest part was over.

"Fighting. Dad's with her, so she's not on her own," he informed, walking up to stand next to her. He took her hand in his and raised it to his lips, "How're you feeling?"

"Like I just had a baby two months early," she admittedly truthfully with an amused smile on her face, she still felt a little drowsy. One arm was resting on her stomach, it had lost the prominence it had had before, "And like I got hit by a bus."

"That would be the anesthesia," Arthur replied. The nurse, now finished with her data logging, offered Arthur the chair he had been sat on before, moving it beside him. He thanked her and accepted it.

"Are you sure she's okay?" Gwen asked as the nurse left the room. She couldn't help but worry, but she knew that Arthur would be truthful with her; it wasn't in him to lie about these things.

"They have her on a breather. One hundred percent oxygen. She was stronger than they had expected, but she's not out of the woods yet," he admitted, knowing full well that if he lied she'd never forgive him, "She's got a fight on her hands but, although incredibly small, she's strong. I promise you."

"Pumpkin?" both new parents looked towards the door. Gwen smiled, pushing herself up weakly to greet her own father, "Merlin called. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," she reassured, "Can you put the bed up a bit?" she asked Arthur who obliged grabbing the buttons for the bed and adjusting it as she wanted. She relaxed back into her crushed pillows trying to make herself comfortable.

"How's the baby?" Tom asked looking between the pair of them, worry evident.

"She's okay," Arthur answered, "Still got a long way to go, but she's fighting."

"I don't know about Arthur, but that's certainly something she gets from you, sweetheart," Tom said to his daughter, he picked up her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.

"I'd say definitely. I'm a complete wimp," Arthur replied pressing a kiss to her temple, "If your Dad is here I'm going to go down to the NICU, okay? Just make sure everything is alright and I'll be right back, okay?"

"Okay," Gwen agreed. She raised her hand up to wave, still feeling slightly weak from the anaesthetic.

"I love you," he said from the doorway, not caring that there were other people around. He could see Tom smile at him out of the corner of his eye.

"I love you too," Gwen replied a small smile on her face. She was utterly exhausted, but all she wanted to do was see her daughter.

"She'll be okay," Tom assured her as Arthur left. He noticed the rim of tears in her eyes, "May I?" he gestured to the edge of the bed to sit down. Gwen silently agreed. "Everything will work out alright, love," he confirmed as he sat down. He reached out and gently squeezed her shoulder. He nudged her forwards and pulled her into a careful hug.

"Thanks Dad," she whispered into his ear clutching to him like he was life support.

"You'll both be fantastic parents. Lex is lucky to have you."

"Don't call her that in front of Arthur," Gwen joked through her now fallen tears, "He'll be gleeful that he won the Superman name."

"You never noticed that before?"

"I did, but I don't think Arthur did," she laughed pulling back from her father and slowly collapsed back into the hardened pillows in her exhaustion.

"Give him time."

x

It didn't take long for the nurses to admit that Gwen was doing well after her procedure and moved her into a different room so she could be fed IV fluids by a drip for the next twenty-four hours.

She was restless. Now the anaesthetic had worn off she didn't have drowsiness keeping her from wanting to jump out of bed and run down the corridor to the natal ward. The only thing keeping her in bed was the shooting pain she felt whenever she moved too vigorously. They'd given her pain medication, but she could still feel it.

Arthur had returned relatively quickly previously, and had traded places with Tom who headed down into the ward to give Uther a break from 'Lexie Watch'. The older Pendragon had popped his head in the door to check on her, but since departed to leave the new parents alone.

They'd sat in silence for a while, with nothing to say apart from a repetition of the same information over and over again. Arthur had ended up squeezed onto the side of the bed next to Gwen with her head resting on his chest with his arm around her, gently massaging her arm.

"I've not even held my baby," she said into his shirt. There wasn't already a small damp patch from where she'd been unable to stop herself from crying. "I don't know what colour her eyes are, what she looks like."

"They're blue," he said quietly into her hair, "And she's got dark hair and it's kind of curly."

"See! You know. They won't even let me leave my bed. I have to pee in a cup!"

"I'll talk to them, get you a wheelchair."

"Don't you have some sort of overriding power?"

"It's not my department," he chuckled into her hair. He reached into his trouser pocket and produced his Blackberry; he clicked through a few menus and held it out in front of her.

She took the device from him with an eagerness she'd not had all night. She should have been sleeping, really, both of them should be, but she was mesmerised by the small movements of her hour old baby on the small screen.

She ran her finger gently over the screen, knowing that it wouldn't make a difference, but she couldn't help but feel the need to touch.

"Get some sleep," Arthur said quietly, pressing a kiss to her temple, "I'll wake you up in a few hours. In that time I'll try and locate a wheelchair, okay?"

"Thank you," Arthur moved to stand; Gwen reached out her hand to give him back his mobile.

He shook his head, "Keep it. If you can't sleep maybe it will help."

Gwen settled back down in the bed. Arthur bent over and pressed his lips to her forehead, sweeping the tendrils on her face away, "Sleep well. I'd best relieve your Dad of his duty."

x

When Arthur arrived back in the NICU he was surprised to see Merlin sat beside his future father-in-law. The pair of them were quietly sat watching the screens before them, concentrating so hard on making sure that nothing bad happened that neither of them noticed Arthur come in, even when he was stood beside them.

"Shouldn't you be working?" Arthur said with a small smirk on his face. Both men jumped slightly. Every other parent in the room was sleeping and all others had gone for the night to come back first thing after a night's sleep. Arthur knew he wouldn't be able to get a wink, let alone a whole night.

"It's dead, Morgana sent me up for an update. I got a bit side tracked," Merlin made to move to let Arthur sit down.

"You're alright," Arthur said. The three men all looked at the small girl before them.

"She's so small," Merlin commented with a small smile on his face.

"She's eight weeks early, Merlin, she was hardly going to be huge," Arthur smiled as he leant his hand on the edge of the cradle she was sleeping in. He ran his index finger over her exposed leg again and watched as she kicked out slightly at the ticklish touch.

"I know, but she's tiny," Merlin stood beside his boss and friend and stared at the child before them.

"Yeah."

"She's like, a really tiny Gwen."

"Yeah."

Tom stood and came to the other side of Arthur, looking down at his granddaughter, "She looks just like Gwen did when she was born," he said with a reminiscent smile on his face.

"Really?" Arthur asked with the hint of a grin traced on his face.

"Yeah."

"Even then she was perfect," the blonde mused, grinning and finally feeling positive.

"Yeah."

"On that note, I'm going," Merlin announced, "I'll tell Morgana everything is perfect and her brother is the biggest sap in the world."

"Umhmm."

"Bye, Arthur," Merlin laughed as he approached the doors of the department, "See you soon, Tom."

"Yeah, bye Merlin, thanks for calling by."

x

When Gwen woke up in the early hours of the next morning, she hadn't expected to be greeted by her grinning other half, "Arthur?" She wiped her eyes

"Morning," he stood up and kissed her forehead and ran his fingers through her hair with one hand behind his back.

"What time is it?" she asked still sleepy. She didn't feel particularly awake yet, but if her maths was correct she'd only had five hours actual sleep after a hectic and fearful day.

"About six," he stated still with a smile on his face, he leant forwards on the bar of the bed and grinned. Gwen frowned at him, he was starting to scare her with his joyous mood.

"Are you feeling alright?" she asked sitting up in her bed with a slightly wince, "Have you slept?"

"Nope."

"How are you this awake?" she asked leaning back into her pillows and looking up at him.

"Costa," Merlin, Morgana and Leon had kept him supplied with fresh hot coffee every half an hour. Tom had placed an order but fallen asleep shortly after so Arthur had swiped his as well and now the caffeine was well and truly going to his head.

"Ah, right, should have known."

"Here," he handed her a cup from the coffee shop and smiled. She picked the lid off and smelt it. Hazelnut chocolatey goodness filled her senses and she grinned. She needed this.

"I love you," she stated shallowly with a grin on her face. He kissed her briefly, when he pulled away he still had a grin on her face.

"I know. You'll love me more when you realise that I have a wheelchair and a free pass to the NICU for a certain nurse within close proximity right now," Gwen paused, her cup by her lips and she looked over the top of the cup towards him.

"Really?" a smile broke out over her face as he nodded at her.

"Really," he dropped the side of the bed and bought the wheelchair to the side of the bed for her to climb into it. She settled into the chair and cradled her hot chocolate as Arthur guided her towards the door. She nervously chewed the inside of her lip in anticipation. She finally got to see her daughter after waiting a long nine hours since she'd been taken into surgery.


	20. Not Ideal Living

**Part Nineteen**

Nerves weren't something that Guinevere Leodegrance experienced much in her life. Results days in school and university. The first time she had been on placement as a nurse. Her first day at Albion. Buying and doing the pregnancy test. Telling Arthur. Now being driven down a corridor in a wheelchair by said man was sending butterflies in her stomach to rival even the great rainforests of the Amazon.

She could see the doors of the NICU and she had the feeling that the half of her hot chocolate she had just drank was on its way back up her oesophagus. It was strange, she'd made such a fuss about being able to see their daughter and now she was so nervous she was gripping onto her take-away cup.

Gwen was forced to abandon her hot chocolate before entering the NICU. Given any other circumstance she would have complained but given the prominence of the situation she more than happily threw it into the bin. She could always send Arthur to get another one should she wish it so later.

She found it important enough to tell him as such.

Arthur chuckled and opened the door, he backed into it and pulled Gwen through after him. She took a deep yet shaky breath and readied herself. He wheeled her over to the cradle. He was as she leant forward the closer to the station they got.

Arthur lined her up next to the crib and picked up the chart from the side. He read through the chart with a smile on his face, only good news. He watched Gwen look on in awe. Their daughter before her. She reached out her hand to trace small circles on the pads of her feet.

"She's bigger than I thought she'd be," Gwen mused studying her daughter. Ten fingers. Ten toes. Dark curly hair on her head with skin a touch lighter than Gwen's own. She had a small metal heart on her chest that moved with every heartbeat.

"I don't know why, you were huge," they both chuckled lightly. Every time he could he teased her, if she had the energy she'd kick him for it. She managed a weak swipe but missed him completely, but the sentiment was there.

"Thanks, Arthur, make me feel better," she ran her finger up the inside of her daughters bare leg, and like she had with her father the day before she wriggled and kicked out. Gwen smiled down at her. Ticklish already.

"Just telling it as it is."

She knew her daughter's eyes were blue but she wanted to see for herself. She understood that the girl needed sleep to make her stronger but all she wanted right now was to know exactly what shade of blue they were, "I wish she'd open her eyes," Gwen willed tears brimming in her eyes. Tears of joys and fear in all one go.

"She's been sleeping for a while, she'll wake up soon, probably when they do rounds and there is a bit more noise," Arthur said reasonably. Gwen knew what he was saying was more likely the truth but it didn't make it any easier. In the time she'd be asleep her father, her best friends and her father-in-law had all seen her own baby before she had. Something about it didn't sit right with her, but now she was sat there, she didn't want to leave.

"Yeah," Gwen chewed on the inside of her cheek to stop herself from crying, "I know she needs them, but I wish I could just look at her without all these tubes."

Arthur knew it wasn't going to be an easy few weeks for any other them. They'd get stressed and they wouldn't know anything for sure for a while, Lexie was still very much in danger but they had to be optimistic, "Your Dad says she's the spitting image of you," he divulged.

"Yeah?" Gwen ran her finger up her daughter's leg, and she twitched again.

"Yeah. I think he got a bit reminiscent about it."

"Probably a bit strange for him, with Mum and everything," Gwen replied. She'd not thought about how much it would affect her father. All the bad memories would come to the surface for him, as well as the good ones. Gwen knew he'd be the best kind of grandparent. He'd be the sort of Grandparent who would take her to the park on an autumn afternoon in her Wellingtons and let her splash in the puddles with a gleeful giggle and kick at the leaves.

"Yeah. Dad sat with her for a while, got a bit nostalgic, I think," Arthur to had given little thought to his father. For Uther it had been a bigger deal when it came to childbirth, that had been when his wife had died giving him his only son in return. Over time he'd learned to live with it, but this as his chance to be a better grandfather than he was a father.

"At least we know we can rely on them."

"She means the world to them already."

"She i_is_/i the world," Gwen bit her lip bringing her hand up to rub her chin. She sniffed and licked her lips able to taste salt from where tears had trickled down her cheeks without her noticing until she could take it.

"You both are," he squeezed her shoulder. She dropped her hand to rest over his. She looked up with a smile on her face. She moved her other hand so it was resting over her stomach like she had been used to the last seven months.

"It's strange, I kind of miss it," she laughed. It had always been comfortable to sit back and rest her tea cup on her bump as she sipped from it or sitting with her hand resting atop her bump and running her fingers over it in comfort to herself and her baby. Her baby that was now living and breathing before her.

"Miss being the same size as a small elephant- owh!" he shook his hand to free himself of the pain of his fiancée pinching his skin between her fingernails.

"You deserved that."

There was a sudden burst of beeps from the machine connected to their daughter. Gwen jumped in the wheelchair and went into panic mode. Arthur read the gages on all the screens trying to find what it was that had so suddenly changed. Immediately alert to the noise the duty nurse, Marian, to come over and press a button, making all the noise stop instantly.

"It's okay," she reassured, "It happens occasionally."

"Right, okay," Gwen felt herself breath again and sat back. She knew things like that could happen, but this was their little girl if anything further happened to her she would panic until she knew for sure she was out of the danger zone.

"Congratulations. Both of you, she's beautiful," the NICU nurse smiled, she had know Gwen for a few years, she'd done a stint in the very ward they were sat in for a couple of months before she decided to settle in the emergency department. She'd always found the NICU to be a depressing place and it didn't help now she had a child residing there.

"Thanks Marian."

"She's doing great," Marian confirmed even though she knew Arthur had been keeping a close eye on all information on the chart all night, "You've got a lot of time yet, she'll probably be in the hospital for another month, just so we can make sure she's strong enough, but so far so good."

"We're only nine hours into this," Gwen answered with a smile on her face as she watched the small girl move in the cot.

"Nine hours into the rest of your lives," the other nurse answered with an amused smirk on her face, "Good luck."

"Thanks."

"Though I don't think you'll need it for another fifteen years or so."

"Don't tell him that," Gwen laughed in response tilting her head towards Arthur, "He's already coming up with master plans to fend off boys," she paused, "Or girls, you know, whatever."

"You might want to gag and tie him then. My husband still hates it when our girls get new boyfriends, and they're in their twenties."

"I'm not that bad," Arthur defended, suddenly realising that he was being openly ridiculed having been distracted by his daughter and her sleeping form. It bemused him that she was part of him. His blood. His i_family_/i. A year ago he never would have considered having one of those of his own.

"Yes, you are."

He grinned manically, "Yeah, I probably am."

x

There was a knock on the glass of the NICU door. Marian nudged Arthur, nodding towards it; "Morgana's here for you," he smiled at the nurse and looked towards the door. He stood, leaving Alexandria for a second to greet her.

"Here, I got you a change of clothes," Morgana handed Arthur a plastic bag within which she had shoved a couple of t-shirts, a jumper and a pair of jeans for him to change into, along with an array of showering products that he and Gwen would need.

"Thanks, Morgana," he accepted the bag and looked inside to ensure she wasn't trying to embarrass him completely with her clothing choices; he internally thanked the gods when he noticed she hadn't.

"No worries. There's a shower down the hallway," she pushed him towards it, "You smell."

"Thanks."

"No worries," she grinned at him. She still had a hold of a plastic bag full of stationary supplies.

"Anything else?" Arthur asked eyeing the bag in her hand.

"I got you scissors and glue and all the other things you left a message for at four am this morning," ah, that message. One that he hadn't expected to leave but it wouldn't leave him alone until he did it, and he couldn't leave the hospital.

"You're a star," he beamed taking the bag from her and hooking it over his wrist.

"I'm glad you think so," he reached out to hug her only to have her push him away again, "Don't touch me, you smell, remember. Go! I'll look after my gorgeous niece."

"I'll see you later, Morgana," he chuckled and turned away to head down the corridor towards the shower that his sister had pointed him towards.

"Yeah, yeah," Morgana sighed, she shook her head. His happy state was going to get very tiring very quickly. She'd never seen him like this and she couldn't help but wonder what the hell he was up to. Arthur wasn't a creative person, so why did he need all the supplies from Staples?

Unless Morgana was very much mistaken he was practically skipping down the corridor. She raised an eyebrow, he was very scary indeed.

x

Alexandria Amelia Pendragon was staring at the world that surrounded her. The bright lights that hung above her were fascinating and blurred. Gwen watched her in amazement, Arthur was right, her eyes were blue. Not like his, a deeper blue. Who knew if they would change over time?

The doors to the department opened, Gwen assumed it was another family coming in to check on their child. She was surprised to find that the figure stopped behind her.

"I bought you flowers but I wasn't allowed to bring them in, so Morgana snaffled them to your room. If they aren't there she stole them," Gwen laughed, she looked up to smile at him. "But this is from everybody down stairs that I could find."

"Thank you, Leon," she said accepting the card from him, "I'm surprised they let you in with this."

"Me too, but what they don't know won't hurt them."

"Thank you," she repeated with a smile.

"I'd better get back. Took the only five minutes I could find to come up," he smiled at her and rested his hand on her shoulder for a second.

"I'm glad you did."

"Fed up of Arthur already?" He asked her with a grin on his face.

"It's just nice to see other people for a change."

"Well, it was a pleasure," Leon couldn't resist a peak at the chart that was hooked onto the edge of the cot. He read it over and nodded in approval. He could settle all the minds of the staff down below in the hell that was the emergency room, "I'm sure a thousand people have said this already, but she's beautiful."

"Yeah, she is."

"Well, with your genes she was bound to be. Arthur's, not so much," they both laughed, "I'll catch you soon, okay?"

"Yeah, thanks again, Leon."

"Anything to escape."

"And here I thought you had just come to see me," she winked as he turned to exit with laughter in his eyes and a smile on his face. He turned to see a fresh looking Arthur coming through the doors towards him. Leon clapped him on the shoulder as he passed and congratulated him.

The pair separated and carried on through the doorway towards her

"Hey," she smiled. Arthur stooped and caught her lips quickly in a kiss.

"How is she doing?"

"She's doing great," Gwen beamed with her fingertips gently posed on her daughter's bare leg, "Marian was in a few minutes ago, and said that she's still doing well."

"That's good."

"Umhmm," she passed Arthur the envelope that she was yet to open, "Here. It's from downstairs."

"You don't want to open it?" He asked passing it between his hands and twirling the unopened envelope.

"That requires strength," she yawned, stretching with the small amount of energy she did have. She leant against the arm of the wheelchair she'd been sat in all morning and leant against the heel of her hand.

"Ripping paper?" Arthur laughed opening the envelope with ease. He opened it briefly noting the vast amount of messages and passed it back to Gwen. He would read it later, he had his priorities and right now making sure his future wife and daughter were safe was the highest of them.

"Okay, maybe not a lot, but I'm so tired," she accepted it and started to read the messages. Most of them were the same. All wishing them luck, and to get well soon, and congratulations.

"You should get some rest. I can wake you if anything changes."

She nodded, she couldn't do anything else here anyway apart from watch her sleep, "Okay, take me back?" she asked knowing he would be unable to get herself there.

"My pleasure."

x

He was surrounded by paper when Morgana walked into the NICU ward with Merlin later in the afternoon. The nurses had allowed him to sit and cut away at the materials having ruled them not lethal to the children in the ward, as long as he tidied up his mess they let him carry on.

"You know," Merlin started, "For a kid born on Friday the 13th, she's incredibly lucky."

Arthur looked up from his project and look at the couple who presented themselves to him, "You know, I hadn't even noticed."

"Well, I wouldn't expect you to. You were dealing with other things."

"Well it's all gone to his head now," Morgana commented looking at the cut outs of paper that surrounded him, "Arthur, what on Earth are you doing?"

"It's a secret," he replied as he started to cut again. They hadn't let him have any glue so he would have to do the sticking later. Maybe he could leave Morgana and Merlin with Lexie in order to finish his project.

"My god; how old are you?" his sister asked exasperatedly.

"It's a surprise then."

"And you can't tell us?" Merlin asked trying to look at what it was Arthur was doing. The blonde quickly covered his 'masterpiece' with his hands.

"No, just in case it doesn't work," it had always worked out the same for Arthur growing up. If he had had a big plan and told somebody it all went wrong. The only times things really worked out was when he kept it to himself and appeared to have the bigger success without being big-headed to soon and looking the fool.

"Well, good luck to you," Merlin replied with an amused look on his face. This was Arthur.

"Do you think they'll let us take Gwen to Costa?" Morgana asked knowing they could all benefit from a trip there.

"She's asleep."

"Ah, best not wake Sleeping Beauty," Merlin supplied with a cheeky grin on his face. He took the opportunity to look in on the girl he considered to be his niece.

"Her body's been through a lot. She needs sleep."

"Well that's what you get for impregnating her with your mutant sperm," Morgana supplied sarcastically with an impish grin on her face.

Arthur grabbed one of the scrunched up pieces of paper from the piles of dodged jobs and launched it in her direction. Morgana caught it with ease and tutted at him, "Now, now, no picking fights in the NICU."

"Well don't start them then."

x

Gwen was getting used to waking up in an uncomfortable hospital more tired than when she went to sleep. She was also used to waking up with Arthur smiling at her like he was some kind of lunatic.

She loved him dearly but it was kind of creepy. She was glad he was happy, but if he could refrain from scaring her as she woke up it would be much appreciated.

"What time is it?" she asked sleepily rubbing her eyes, it was still light outside so it couldn't be too late yet, but it didn't feel like lunchtime. Her stomach rumbled, no she'd definitely missed lunchtime.

"About fiveish."

"Why didn't you wake me?" she stretched slightly the dull throbbing from her abdomen no longer aching after a good sleep. She wasn't feeling as sluggish as she had before, but she knew they weren't about to let her go too soon.

"Because nothing changed with Lexie and I got side tracked."

"Side tracked by what?"

"By watching my two sleeping beauties?" he replied with a cheesy grin on his face. He had spent most of the hours she'd been asleep watching their daughter sleep in between cutting. He'd left her for a while with Morgana and Merlin so he could do his sticking then headed back in to see what they made of his masterpiece.

"Kind of creepy, Arthur."

"I was making something," he defended, still sitting in the seat that was becoming more and more like a second home. His tone was meek and suddenly he turned shy eyeing the floor rather than Gwen's face and looking pensive rather than the cheeky boyish exterior he'd showcased before.

"Making something?"

"You mentioned a while ago about making a mobile to hang over Lexie's crib," he produced a gift bag from behind his legs and presented it to her. From the bag Gwen pulled out a structure made out of lollipop sticks and brightly coloured string twisted and plaited to create a number of arms with string hanging from the end of each other.

"I got Morgana to get some prints for me. And there's some little savannah animals," a grin broke over Gwen's face as she studied each of the pictures. There was Lexie's first scan pictures and a copy of the picture of the pair of them with Old Man Simmons. There were pictures of their parents and Morgana and Merlin.

"This is perfect," she hugged it to her chest only to have Arthur protectively move her hands away from her body to stop her from breaking it. He didn't want to risk it breaking after all his hard work.

"I asked and the nurses have said we can hang it above her cot. There's a spare hook on the IV poll we can use."

"I'm sure she'll love it. It's amazing," she swung her legs over the side of the bed and reached out her hand to pull Arthur in front of her. She pushed his fringe out of his face and traced her fingers down his jaw and cupped his cheek. She guided his head down to her own and kissed him properly for the first time in two days.

They both moved to deepen the kiss at the same time. His fingers tangled in her hair, "I love you," she said against his lips before she kissed him again.

"I love you," he replied with a smile on his face as he rested his forehead against hers, "I wish we could just go home."

"Really?" she grinned and pressed another quick kiss to his lips, "Doctor's orders not to do vigorous exercise for a week or so."

"I can give you doctor's orders otherwise," he replied cheekily with a grin to match on his face.

"Give it a few weeks. Right now I just want to sleep," Arthur kissed her on her forehead and backed away again, "Let's go give Lexie her first gift."

"Let's," Gwen sat herself in the wheelchair, now feeling together enough to walk and move more than she had before, "Did you realise that if you shorten her name more you get Lex?"

"I did."

"And you were so against Superman names."


	21. Don't Live For 'What If'

**Part Twenty**

Weeks passed; at any given time either one (or both) of the new parents or another member of the family was stationed at the bedside of the latest addition to the fold. Gwen had rarely wanted to leave the hospital but Arthur had practically carried her out of the door to force her back to their apartment.

Though glad to have her home, Arthur could tell she wasn't sleeping. She was restless all night and when he woke in the mornings she would already be up milling around in the kitchen, with three cups of tea already drunk and another brewing.

One evening he had found her standing in the middle of the nursery leaning on the edge of the crib, "We'll get her home soon," he'd told her. He gently wrapped his arms around her waist and tucked his chin over her shoulder. He rubbed his fingers gently over her abdomen where her bump had been. There was still a little prominence from where she had gained baby weight. It was foreign to him now to have hold of her without the bump between them.

"I just wish we could have her home now," she mumbled as she dissolved back into his chest.

"They're taking her off of the machines tomorrow," He gently rocked her back and forth with his chin nestled in the crook of her neck, "If she does well without them, we'll have her by the weekend."

"And if she doesn't?" she asked with tears brimming in her eyes, her hand clutching onto the wooden frame of the vacant crib.

"She will," he pressed a light kiss to her skin, his breath tickling her as he spoke.

"How do you know that?"

He smiled against her neck, "Because I have a little faith in her."

"I do too," she turned around in his arms and looked up at him. He could see the worry etched in her features and raised his hand to cup her chin, "but what if-"

"Let's not live for 'what if'. Let's have some confidence," he brushed his thumb over her cheekbone, "You've seen her chart; she's going to be fine."

"I hope you're right, I can't leave her there anymore. I can't. I need to be with her."

"I know you do," he kissed he tentatively on the forehead, "but you need to get some proper rest before we're looking after her twenty four seven."

"Yeah," she sighed and turned to face into his hand and placing a kiss on his palm, "It's just not ideal."

"Has anything we've done been?" he asked with a sincere look on his face that was soon betrayed by a grin.

Gwen laughed quietly, "You're right," she pushed her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest. She closed her eyes and settled herself leaning against him.

"Everything else worked out," he placed a kiss to the top of her hair and held her as close as he could, "this will too."

x

The next morning Arthur wasn't surprised to find himself alone when he woke up. He knew exactly where Gwen would be. He pushed up from the mattress and headed for the door, stumbling over his abandoned work clothes from the day before as he wiped his eyes of the sleep dust.

He detoured to the kettle filling it and clicking the button down before he went towards the open nursery door.

"I couldn't sleep," she mumbled as she heard his feet padding across the floor behind her. Standing next to the crib at the centre of the far wall had become a regular occurrence for the new mother, only she knew what she was missing – the baby.

"I guessed that," he stood beside her and laid his hand over hers on the edge of the crib, linking his fingers through hers.

"There's too much going on in my head," she said as she dropped said body part onto his shoulder, "Will they let us bring her home? When? At all? Will she make it past Christmas? Her first birthday? Her-"

"You don't need to explain yourself to me," he rested his temple on the top of her hair and released her hand to slip his arm around her waist, "I understand."

"I just want today to be over. I need to know we're getting her home."

"We will," he rubbed his hand along her bicep in attempt to comfort her, "She's doing great, we know that," gently he pressed his lips to her temple.

"I know," she sighed leaning into his kiss, "I know. I'm just scared, what if it goes wrong? What if her lungs aren't strong enough?"

"Stop it. You're worrying yourself far too much."

"Am I?" she didn't know how he could be so flippant about this, it was their daughter's life in the balance he wasn't so much as blinking an eyelid at a possible negative outcome, "Maybe you're not worrying enough!"

"I'm worried; you know I am," he said sternly as Gwen pulled away from him in order to scold him with her glare, "We just need to stay reasonable about this. The signs are good; we have good reason to be confident about it."

"Confidence and being complacent are two separate things."

"I'm not being complacent," he raised his hands to hold her shoulders, keeping her close to him rather than let her manoeuvre herself away, "This is our daughter were talking about, do you honestly think if I didn't truly believe that she had a chance that I would bother putting your hopes up?"

Gwen's gaze cast to the floor, her curls falling over her face, "Sorry."

"I know you're worried, but you don't need to be," he pulled her into him and placed a loving kiss to her forehead, "Come on, kettle's on, let's just have a cup of tea and head in, if that will put you at ease," he reasoned looking her in the eye with sincerity written on his face.

"Okay, thank you."

Despite the earliness of the two parents to the NICU that morning, they were greeted with smiling doctors and nurses as they approached the cot of their three week old daughter. Arthur reached for her hand with a shining confidence present on his face.

"You have a right to smile, Dr Pendragon," Doctor Orkney greeted with a pleased smile on his face, "We think we are ready to remove the last of the tubes this morning. All the indicators are telling us that she will strive without them."

Gwen let out an elongated sigh of relief a gentle smile on her face. Worry lifted from her shoulders and she felt generally lighter about herself.

"We will complete our rounds here then I shall be back, okay?"

"Thank you," Gwen beamed at him and grabbed hold of Arthur's hand in her glee.

"Don't thank me yet, Gwen."

"Not just for today," she admitted as the doctor before them smiled and walked away with his troupe of students.

"I don't want to say it," Arthur whispered smugly into her ear.

"Yes you do," she turned to look up at him slowly shaking her head, they both knew he wanted to.

"You're right, I do," he revelled in the moment. He pulled her between him and the cot and wrapped his arms around her. He grinned into the crook of her neck before he spoke; "I told you so."

"There it is," she laughed. She pulled away from him taking the remaining steps towards her sleeping daughter. She checked what the doctor's had written that morning, amused by the small smiley face that Morgana had left her at the end of one of her added notes; i_'Totally gorgeous. I bagsy first extended family cuddles __'/i_ Gwen laughed.

"You have to admit it, Guinevere, I was right."

"Yes, you were," she paused to look back over her shoulder at him, "For once."

"Hey!"

"Now, now, no big headedness in front of Baby Alexandria Amelia, we don't need her inheriting that trait sooner rather than later," she smirked and dropped the top sheet of paper back down onto the clipboard.

"Oi," he pulled the chart from her and hooked it back into place so she was free to be pulled into him, "You love it," she batted him away and turned back to the sleeping child.

"It's the single most annoying thing about you," Gwen admitted running her finger over Lexie's rising chest.

"Oh thanks," Arthur crossed his arms over his chest and hefted a laugh, taking her cajoling with a pinch or salt.

"Or maybe the snoring," she said thoughtfully still hunched over the cot. She smiled to herself not alerting Arthur to her amusement.

"Hah!"

"Seriously, I don't know how I sleep at night," she commented with a large grin on her face, tickling down Lexie's legs gaining her anticipated reaction of her kicking out in her sleep.

"Well you won't for the next three months until she sleeps through," Arthur said puffing out his chest as he took a step forward to stand next to Gwen. "So you won't be able to blame me."

"I can blame you all I want," she nudged him in the side with a cheeky smile on her face.

"Well now I'm shifting the blame onto her," he returned nudging her right back. She engaged him inn a small battle nudging him back again and giggling as he did the same to her.

"You can't blame her, she can't defend herself."

"And, against you, I can?"

"Nope," she smiled up at him pausing before she jabbed him in the side again.

"Well it's a good job I love you then, isn't it?"

"Not interrupting anything, am I?" Gwen turned to look over her shoulder towards the door. A wider grin broke across her face.

"Dad?" she moved towards him pushing her arms around his shoulders. She'd barely seen him since Lexie had been born due to the opposite shifts the lot of them had been pulling, and when she was free she'd been sleeping off the long days only to wake up tired.

"Hi pumpkin," Tom embraced his daughter. He flattened her hair down against her back and swung he around slightly, "Okay?"

"Yeah."

"Merlin called," Of course he had, he was Merlin, he always seemed to speak to her father and tell him things before Gwen had the chance to, "said they were looking to take her off the tubes today."

"Yeah, they're going to come back once their rounds are over."

"That's excellent news, love," he pulled her into a one armed hug and led her back over towards Arthur who smiled at the pair of them.

"Yeah, it is," he supplied turning back to have his chance with his daughter before Gwen or Tom butted him out of the way.

Not five minutes later Doctor Gawain Orkney returned with a smaller selection of the student troupe he had before.

"Alexandria Pendragon, off of most of the support mechanisms, today we remove her from the breather and the last of the machines," he said to the students who all stood scribbling notes down onto their clipboards. "She has a good history, so we anticipate good results. However," Arthur's smile didn't fade at this, he knew the man well enough to know his teaching methods, "This doesn't mean that it will all go according to plan. I'm only being brutally honest in front of these two because they work in our hospital's Emergency Room. They understand everything I am telling you. Okay."

He turned his back on his students and gestured for a space to be made by the cot. He leant over and gently lifted the tube from the girl's nose and face. She kicked out and moved, but no severe alerts sounded right away.

Orkney took the small probe clip from her hand with an encouraging smile on his face as he tugged at the final contacts from her skin.

He stepped aside allowing the pair of parents to their daughter. Arthur stooped over the cot and slowly scooped his large hand beneath his daughters head, and other under her body.

She really was tiny.

Nothing could stop the grin that had plastered itself to Arthur's face. Gwen smiled through her tears – ones she hadn't even notice running down her face until one fell onto Lexie's bare leg. Gwen ran her thumb over the moisture and wiped her eyes.

There was a click on a camera as Tom aimed his newly bought digital camera at the pair of them. He indicated for them to face him and they smiled at the camera briefly before their gaze was drawn back to her. A minute passed before Arthur moved to give Gwen their daughter. Again Tom took a dozen pictures.

"I told you she'd be fine."

"She's still got to make it through the next twenty-four hours without assistance before we can take her home," Gwen said as she gently massaged her fingers over Lexie's chest.

"With all due respect, Gwen, I think Arthur's right," Orkney said with a smile on his face, "And, if I've not said it already, she's gorgeous."

"You have and she is," Arthur smiled and ran his hand over her hair that was already curling like her mother's.

"Well, other littleuns to tend to, so I shall see you later."

"Thanks, Gawain."

"No worries, Gwen, see you soon."

Gwen beamed at him with her daughter cradled between her own arms and Arthur's. She looked at her Dad with the very same smile and indicated for him to come over, "This is Grandpa Tom, he's Mummy's Daddy," Lexie was busy looking around at the world that surrounded her to notice that her mother was passing her to the older man in the room.

"This takes me back."

"Twenty-six yeas later."

"Feels like yesterday," he said grinning down at the girl in his arms.

"I have to get to work," Arthur said dejectedly having looked at the clock, "I'm already late," he ran his fingers over Lexie's hair once again and stooped to place a kiss on her head, "I'll be back in a couple of hours, sooner if it's dead," Gwen smiled in understanding. He ran his palm down her bicep pulling her towards him and pressed a kiss to his lips, "Love you."

"Love you too," she replied pecking him on the lips again before he turned to go. He looked back over his shoulder as he walked away eyeing his daughter with a smile on his face. He tuned his attention to Gwen and grinned. He then pushed the door open and left his family behind.

Morgana cradled her niece, quietly cooing over the currently sleeping child. Merlin was stood beside her, running a soothing finger over the small girl's bare arm, "She's beautiful," Morgana said for the hundredth time.

Merlin huffed, "She'd be even more beautiful if you let Uncle Merlin have a hold."

"Blood relatives only," Morgana said again, turning away from Merlin so he couldn't try and take the baby from her, "Besides, you're under strict Daddy instructions not to touch."

Merlin moved around to stand in front of her again and rested his hand on his girlfriend's arm, "I think he was joking."

"Then you're a fool," she laughed as the small child moved in her grasp and woke from her slumber, "Hello little one," the girl gurgled slightly before she start to cry out. Morgana shushed her quietly rocking her in her arms to no avail.

"Maybe I-"

"It's okay, baby, shuuuush," she rocked her urging her to stop crying.

"Morgana, let me?" Merlin held out his arms to a reluctant Morgana who gave up the child passing her to her boyfriend. Merlin smiled down at the little girl and she immediately stopped crying staring up at him in amazement.

Morgana's jaw dropped; "How did you do that?" the Irish doctor enquired in amazement.

Merlin shrugged, he was still smiling at his 'niece', "Something about having gawky features works?"

"She's not even a month old. She can't focus properly yet."

"Well, whatever, babies like me."

"God knows why," Merlin looked over his shoulder to the owner of the voice. He noticed Arthur leaning against the NICU doorway with a smirk on his face.

"Here you go, Blobby," Merlin fussed, heading towards the male doctor and handing him his daughter, "Daddy's back."

"You can hold her if you want, Merlin," Arthur said refusing his best friend offer, "she seems to like you."

"And take away any potential Daddy moments and risk being murdered," Merlin shook his head forcing Arthur to take Lexie from him, "I don't think so," on making sure the blonde had his daughter cradled securely Merlin took a step back, "I've got to get down to the Emergency Department, anyway. Work awaits."

"Thanks for keeping an eye on her," Morgana cleared her throat. Arthur looked over to her and laughed, "You too, Morgana."

"Any time, Daddio. Come on, Merlin, we better go," the pair of them left Arthur holding his daughter against his chest. Morgana paused at the door to look back at her brother with a smile on her face. The small coffee-skinned girl in his arms made a small happy noise and Morgana saw Arthur's ears shoot up as she assumed a smile appeared on his face.

"That was your Aunty Morgana, she's a bit of a fruit loop, but she's okay. And Uncle Merlin. He's a bit useless, but you can't help but like him," Morgana quietly laughed as she silently shut the department door behind her, "Between you and me, Blobs, I think Auntie Morgana is getting a bit broody. She wants you all to herself."

"I thought Gwen would have your head if you called her Blobby?"

"Hi, Dad," Arthur greeted with his girl clutched against his chest as she drifted to sleep, "I'd give her over but she's just fallen asleep."

Uther held up his hand in protest, "I'd not take her away from you anyway. Gawain tells me all is going well on the western front."

"You could say that," the three Pendragons remained in silence. Arthur sat down in the empty chair next to the empty cot with the young girl cradled against him in her sleep.

"I feel she's not been put down since this morning."

"I very much doubt it. Morgana and Merlin were fighting over her when I came in," Arthur laughed and the elder Pendragon smiled.

"I feel for the boy, I really do."

"Listen out for that next piece of news, then," Arthur joked.

"I think Merlin's too scared of me to ask her to marry him, let alone start a family with her."

"Well, it's Merlin. He needs booting in the right direction sometimes," they fell back into a comfortable silence, something they would never do previous to the recent changes in Arthur's life, and merely watched the baby in his arms sleep. Arthur found it bizarre, he had never imagined before that he'd be connecting with his father over his mismatched lifestyle, but if anything, he appreciated that they were.


	22. Ending What Is Done

**Part Twenty-One**

On the 17th November, the parents of Alexandria Amelia Pendragon entered the NICU for the last time. They had everything on them that they could need between picking their daughter up from the medical cot she had been living in since the day she'd been born and their apartment a couple of miles away.

In the backseat of Arthur's car they had installed the baby seat ready to take her home, avoiding the bustle of the underground.

They had managed to avoid being stopped by any of the staff down in the emergency department due to a trauma that had rolled in moments before and had made it straight to the department - that had become their second home in the last month - in record time.

On their entrance Marian smiled at them. She greeted them in her usually cheery way and paged Doctor Orkney so he could finish all final checks so Lexie could be released to her parents at long last.

In their time there, they had witnessed many the happy ending alongside the few sad stories that had concluded tragically leaving parents in tears and leaving the department at a loss. Unlike those people, Arthur and Gwen were getting to leave with their daughter, still a month before her expected due date.

Gawain arrived not long later. He quickly sighed off the chart and discarded it on the reception for filing, "Good to go," he confirmed. He lifted the baby girl from the cot and handed her to her mother for routine's sake. "Now you know if you have any problems to bring her straight back in. Emergency department or straight up here, but I've got a strong feeling that she'll be just fine."

Arthur clapped the doctor on the shoulder with a grateful look on his face, "Thanks Gawain."

"I'd say any time, but if ever see you guys in here again it will be too soon."

"Likewise," Gwen replied as she placed her sleeping daughter into the carrier they had bought along with them, "You're fantastic at your job," she complimented, "But I never want to be on this side of it again."

"Well, hopefully that will be the case."

"Thank you for everything you and your team have done."

"I expect a card."

Gwen grinned back with Arthur lifting the carry cot in one hand and slipping the other arm around Gwen's waist, "I'll be sure to hand deliver it," she said holding out her hand for him to shake. He did so with a firm grip, "Here's to never seeing you unprofessionally again."

"Unless you ever get sick of Pendragon," he winked with a joking laugh, "Bye."

x

The lift doors opened with a ping. The small family were faced with an old man who had been waiting for the lift and not a lot else. They'd been expecting the corridors to be chock-a-block with patients.

"Ready for the onslaught?" Arthur asked Gwen out of the side of his mouth expecting Morgana to jump them at any second. The ever-proud Aunty, Morgana was already spending massive amounts of money on treats and gifts for the month old child.

"Can we just try and slip out?" she asked. As much as she liked the fuss, she was shattered and all she wanted to do was get home and relax. She needed a nap and after a month of stress she needed to unwind.

"We can try," he suspected that Morgana would be vetoing work in preference to stalking the front door of the hospital in order to intercept them.

Arthur had Alexandria in a carry cradle with his bag thrown over his shoulder. Gwen remained glued to his side and followed his lead towards the door, "Can't we leave via the side door?"

"If we do, she'll know we avoided her and she'll murder me later," he said reaching for Gwen's hand and giving it a tight squeeze.

They made it most of the way to the door before they heard the familiar voice shouting after them; "Whoa whoa whoa! You didn't think you were leaving without saying bye, did you?"

"Morgana you're coming over later," Arthur retorted turning back towards the admit desk and setting the cradle on the top so Morgana could fuss. She didn't disappoint, cooing and awhing over her niece and attracting herself a crowd, Leon and Merlin included.

"Does she do this every time?" the older doctor questioned with a bemused look on his face.

"Without fail," Merlin replied with a startled look on her face.

"Good luck with her mate," he laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. Merlin's eyes popped from his head for a second before he put his arm around Morgana, ignoring Leon's jibing in order to fuss over his – currently anyway – honorary niece

Merlin tucked his fingers behind the girl's head as Morgana lifted her from the cradle, "Why do people always put their kids in little hats?" Merlin asked. Arthur questioned Morgana's choice in boyfriend. For a nurse he was a little bit hopeless when it came to the small details of babies and children. Mad Uncle Merlin; Arthur felt for the girl already.

"Gotta keep their heads warm, and it's bloody freezing in here," Arthur stated. It was the middle of November after all and it was cold everywhere. Both he and Gwen were clad in their winter coats ready to face the cold that would greet them on the other side of the door.

"I'd complain to management, but he never listens to me," Merlin retorted.

"Too right, idiot."

"Prat."

Leon took Lexie from Morgana. She was reluctant to give her up and sounded such disagreement only to be ignored, "Now, now, gents, no fighting in front of the baby," he commented having his first ever hold of the child.

"Her entire life she's going to be subject to these two," Gwen spoke up as she leant against the desk. She felt wiped and despite their kind intentions she wished that they would allow them to leave soon so she could relax, "I think she'll be experiencing a lot more of it."

"Poor kid."

"Thanks Leon," Arthur said sarcastically. The taller man laughed and bounced the girl in his arms slightly. He started talking to her in short muffled mumbles that Arthur could have sworn wasn't actually English.

Arthur reached over to take his daughter back from him only to have Leon moved away from him, "You're never getting her back,"

"You say that, but I know you're unable to resist my charms."

"You weird gay."

"Resist Arthur all you like," Gwen said with a hint of amusement in her tone, "I'd like to take my daughter home now."

"Of course," Leon smiled at her, Arthur looked abashed and annoyed that the older male would submit to his fiancée's wants over his own (even if they were the same). He placed the girl into the carrier and waved goodbye to her.

"See you later," Morgana smiled and picked up a chart without looking at the patients ailment. Something she would soon regret when she got stuck with treating the boils of the obese male in curtain three.

"Yeah, Uther said he'd bring dinner; though whether I'm awake or not to eat it is another matter altogether," Gwen pushed off of the desk to stand as Arthur picked up Alexandria in her cradle, "bye."

"See you later," Arthur waved and exited the building.

The rush of cold air had been anticipated but it still packed a bite. Arthur sped up his pace, still careful not to slip on any ice. Gwen pushed her hands deep into her coat pockets and sunk her nose into the collar having forgone her gloves and scarf in her rush to leave for the hospital that morning.

Arthur tucked the blanket around Lexie to protect her from the chilly wind that had picked up. It wasn't far to the car, but he didn't want to risk her catching anything when they had only just gotten her to themselves.

Lexie was fast asleep when her mother lifted her from the carrier and into the car seat. Gwen fumbled with the straps taking care not to wake her daughter. It wasn't advisable for Arthur to do it as when he'd tried back in the apartment when he'd been playing with it he'd started shouting at it.

"Ready to go?" Arthur asked as he looked back from the driver's seat.

"Yeah," she quietly shut the back door and climbed into the passenger seat.

x

Home is where the heart is. Or rather; where you chose to reside with your family when you couldn't imagine living anywhere else with them. A big house in the country was lovely, but it didn't have the personal touches that their apartment had. It was home.

Arthur started towards the kitchen counter and set the carrier on it and swiftly lifted a now awake Lexie from it. She was staring at her new surroundings looking bemused. "This is the kitchen. It's where your Mummy will be cooking your dinner. Daddy would try but you'd probably die of food poisoning and after the scares you've given us I don't want to cause more."

"You're giving your daughter a tour of her home," she raised her eyebrow sceptically and bundled her change of clothes into her arms from the laundry basket that Morgana had delivered earlier. She'd laundered and ironed it all and discarded the basket by the bathroom door, "that has i_four/i_ rooms?"

"Yes," he replied indignantly, "It's incredibly important," the grin on his face betrayed his dismay, but he already had Lexie out of her basinet and headed towards the nursery. They'd only been home ten minutes; they had plenty of time to show her around.

"Whatever you say; I'm going to have a bath, okay, let you do whatever it is you're doing and then I figure you'll be done being weird when I'm done?"

"Believe what you will," he took Lexie into their bedroom, and started ambling on about anything he could mention.

Gwen looked after them, amused and turned away walking into the bathroom and shutting the door behind her still listening to what Arthur was mumbling to Lexie about 'the toastie maker'.

x

When Gwen emerged from the bathroom she noticed Arthur lying with his head resting on the arm of the sofa and his knees bent and his feet on the sofa. He had Lexie lying against his legs her small hands fisted around his index fingers as he muttered away to her.

The small girl was looking up in wonder at her new surroundings seemingly ignoring her father's prattlings.

Gwen approached, now dressed in a pair of jogging bottoms and a loose fitting t-shirt, and sat on the edge of the sofa next to Arthur's side so she could easily running her fingers over her daughter's chest.

Arthur shifted so that he was as close to the back cushions as he could manage and tugged on the sleeve of Gwen's shirt to indicated for her to lie down. She reached over to the coffee table and grabbed up the small digital camera. She stood up and quickly snapped a picture of the serenity before her.

She discarded the camera quickly and settled herself back into her seat. Lexie's attention turned to her causing Gwen to smile. She leant down and kissed the top of her head.

Arthur put one arm around Gwen and moved to that she led next to him with her head resting on his chest and one hand against his heart.

Gwen smiled, looking at Lexie watching them.

This was it. This was what the last seven months of their lives had been amounting to since the eventful drunken night that had begun on the very same sofa had led to this. Thinking about the amount that both their lives had changed since then was mind-boggling and ever-so-slightly overwhelming.

As complicated and confusing as it had all began, Gwen knew that she wouldn't change the outcome for the world.

x

With the rabble of Pendragons (plus Merlin) sat in the lounge Gwen had escaped into the nursery for some peace and quiet which she got until Alexandria started fussing. Gwen picked up her daughter checking her temperature to find her a little cold. She wrapped her to warm her.

Gwen sat back in the rocking chair that they had placed in the corner of the nursery with Baby Pendragon in her arms as the young girl fell back to sleep. She pulled the spare blanket over her legs against the November chill.

Gwen could feel her eyes drooping, sleep wanting to take her after the longest days of her life. The stream of light cast over them as Arthur came through the door with two cups of tea in one hand and a bottle of lukewarm milk in the other.

"Here we go," he announced quietly, and placed the two mugs down onto the windowsill. He ran his now free hand through the curls that splayed over Gwen's shoulder then ran the backs of his fingers over her cheek, "Hey," she groggily smiled up at him and reached for the bottle, "I think I'd better," he gestured for Gwen to pass him the baby, she obliged, not a hundred percent willingly but she knew tiredness was about to win the war so she sacrificed a cuddle for the welfare of her baby.

"So tired," she mumbled and closed her eyes as she settled back into the wooden chair and pulled the blanket up to her chin.

Gwen stopped rocking in the chair, the effort a little too much to continue.

Arthur smiled as he fed the small amount of milk to Lexie, the small girl lulled to sleep by the warmth of the liquid and the rocking motion of her father's arms.

He moved over to the cot and tenderly placed her down on the small mattress, with the mobile hanging above her head. He flicked the sticks and it started to slowly spin. He clicked the night light on the chest of drawers on and it subtly lit the corner of the room. He positioned the monitor making sure it was without good range on the cot. Finally he leant over to place a kiss on her forehead.

He walked over to Gwen, who had now fallen asleep. He contemplated moving her, despite her being a heavy sleeper – anybody who had to put up with his snoring had to be – he didn't want to risk waking her by lifting her.

He traced her fringe out of her eyes and repeated the same movement, kissing her lightly on the forehead. He left the room, quietly shutting the door behind him, and saw Morgana and Merlin cuddled together on the sofa with his father sat upright in the armchair with a cup of tea in his hand.

Tea. He'd left it on the window sill. He sighed and headed over to the teapot to find more than enough to make himself another cup so he didn't have to risk disturbing both of his girls.

He'd barely been listening enough to catch the conversation, but one thing caught his attention from the snippets he heard; "You're just loving being a Granddad, aren't you?" Morgana laughed.

"Of course, one is just the beginning," Uther commented, looking between Merlin and Morgana, the former had just taken a sip of his cup of tea which he had just choked on before swallowing and coughing a few times in quick succession.

He looked up to Morgana who was sat beside him. She looked pale and equally as shocked as he felt.

"One day, Uther," she said diplomatically "Maybe."

"You honestly want to subject a child to a life with them as parents?" Arthur asked relaxing into the only spare seat and hooking his feet under him with his tea in his hands.

"There are worse people out there."

"Like Robbo the Desk Clerk," Arthur laughed remembering one of Morgana's first serious boyfriends. Both male Pendragons had been unable to look him in the eye without laughing. He wasn't unfortunate looking, just incredibly stupid to the point that Arthur couldn't even begin to understand what Morgana saw in him.

"Or, indeed, Simon," Uther said with a wicked smile on his face.

"Oh Simon!" Arthur clicked in remembrance and laughed out loud.

"There was nothing wrong with Simon," Morgana defended unsure of what she had done to be victim to such an attack.

"Apart from his distinct i_lack_/i of brain cells."

"Okay, so he was a little slow."

"That's it! That's the defining feature of all of your boyfriends! All mentally slow," his gaze flicked towards Merlin with a smirk on his face.

"Hey!"

"You're fairing better than the others, Merlin, fear not. You can string two words together," Arthur smirked, "Most of the time."

"Okay, enough abusing me. Where's Gwen?"

"Sleeping. Figured it was best to leave her be."

"Good plan," both of the other males said before looking at each other. Decidedly awkward about having anything in common with his possible future father-in-law, Merlin hid behind his tea cup.

"How's Alexandria?" Uther enquired blinking away Merlin without a care.

"Sleeping. Got through about a quarter of her milk and she fell back to sleep again."

x

A crackled cry sounded through the otherwise silent room. Even Arthur had for once been silent as he slept.

"It's your turn," Gwen mumbled turned back to bury her head into her pillow.

"Mhmm," Arthur made no attempt to move as the cries continued to sound.

"Arthur," she flailed her arm with her hand landing on the flat on his stomach.

"Okay, I'm going," he sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed his eyes. The lack of sleep was already getting to him, with twelve hour days he had tried to catch time for a nap whenever he could.

He left their bedroom. Gwen led awake listening as he opened the door to the nursery.

"What's the matter, Blobby, hmm?" she heard his voice over the monitor. She smiled, "You hungry, hmm?" she heard him quietly shush her as the sound moved into the kitchen area of the apartment.

She didn't hear a lot after that, slowly drifting back to sleep until she heard Arthur talking to Alexandria over the monitor. His talking slowly turned into singing. Gwen assumed that she was having trouble falling back to sleep.

"i_She can kill with a smile. She can wound with her eyes,/_i" Gwen smiled into her pillow, she was starting to rub off on him. More than starting to, "i_She can ruin your faith with her casual lies. And she only reveals what she wants you to see. She hides like a child, but she's always a woman to me._/i Night Blobby."

He re-emerged in their bedroom a few minutes later.

"She okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine," he climbed back into the bed and settled beside her. He scooted up behind her and curled his arm around her waist pulling her into him.

It wasn't long before she could hear his muffled snores as he buried his nose into her hair. She heard Lexie hiccough over the monitor and she smiled. In the arms of the man she loved and with the sound of her daughters small breaths Gwen was slowly lulled into a peaceful sleep.


	23. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

Gwen flattened her simple dress against her and let out a nervous breath. She ran her fingers through her loose curls and checked the final position of the flowers she had in her hair. Morgana poked her head around the door with Lexie nestled in the crook of her arm, "Ready?" she asked as the baby beamed and reached towards the woman in white.

"As I'll ever be," she ran her fingers over her daughters face and though her mess of curls that framed her face, "How's Arthur?"

"He's been waiting for this for eleven years, how do you think he is?"

"Prematurely balding?" Morgana laughed at her and shook her head.

"I think Merlin's in a worse state," Morgana looked Gwen up and down, "You look stunning."

"Thank you, so do you," Gwen smiled in return. Morgana stood in her floor length emerald green dress with Lexie in her arms in a matching colour in the smallest gown they'd ever seen.

"Come on, they're ready to go."

Gwen let out one final shaky breath and smiled, "Okay."

She was nervous, so much so that he hands her shaking. She barely felt able to relax when her father took her arm in front of the heavy oak doors, "Ready, pumpkin?" she replied with an anxious smile.

The music started. This was it. Eight months ago Gwen had to face the scariest few weeks of her life. It had all worked out for the best; she had her beautiful little girl to show for it.

As the doors opened she didn't know what it was she was feeling. At the other end of the seemingly mile long aisle before her stood Arthur in full top hat and tails, Merlin dressed to match. She saw the nerves leave his face as a smile spread across his face as his eyes locked on her.

The butterflies in her stomach disappeared as Morgana led the way in front of her towards the two males and the vicar. Gwen wasn't used to being the centre of attention, but with every free member of staff, Uther, Gaius and all of their friends in the crowd, she had never felt smaller. Her Dad on her arm helped immensely, but she couldn't help the nerves she felt.

The walk didn't last as long as she had anticipated.

Tom hugged her and passed her hand to Arthur who willingly accepted it and linked his fingers through hers.

"Okay?" he mouthed down at her; she nodded and smiled up at him, "I love you."

"I love you," she mouthed back as the vicar began to greet the congregation starting the ceremony with a prayer. She'd never been religious, but she'd always wanted the church wedding like most little girls do. She'd never gone into that much detail with planning when she was younger, but one thing was clear; she wanted a church.

They didn't break eye contact for the duration of his speech, oblivious to the world around them. It was the only moment in their hectic lives where they really could stop and think about why it was they were there.

"Into this holy union Arthur and Guinevere now come to be joined. If any of you can show just cause why they may not lawfully be married, speak now or forever hold your peace," there was a loud cry. Gwen jumped and looked at Morgana. The girl in her arms and unimpressed at being within reach of both of her parents but not being the centre of their attention. The congregation laughed.

Morgana attempted to calm her, and resulted on passing her to Merlin – a trick that usually worked – but even he couldn't calm her.

"Uh, sorry," Arthur mumbled his apology and dropped Gwen's hand in order to take his fussing daughter away from his Best Man. He bounced her slightly before he settled her against his shoulder, which seemed to make her happier, "do carry on. Unless gargling counts as an objection," he joked creating another ripple of amusement.

"I think we can discount it," the vicar replied with a smile on his face, "Anybody else?" Arthur looked down at his daughter and she giggled into his shoulder.

"I think we're good."

The ceremony continued without another hitch, their daughter now asleep against Arthur's shoulder. They exchanged rings, with an integrated balancing act from Arthur.

"You may kiss your bride," Tom stepped forward and took the sleeping child from her father, thankfully she didn't notice and slept through as her father leant forwards, one hand on Gwen's and leant down capturing her lips. She looped her arm around his neck and pushed back into the kiss with equal fever. He dipped her slightly causing both Merlin and Morgana to wolf whistle.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I present you with Mr and Mrs Pendragon."

The commotion that next faced Gwen was the gaggle of women that gathered outside of the church doors. Rice was thrown followed by a few of the nurses chanting for Gwen to throw her bouquet of white roses. She turned and threw the collection over her head. The cheers sounded out and as Gwen tuned around she saw why. Morgana stood next to an awkward looking Merlin with her bouquet in her maid of honours friends, "Take the hint, Merlin," Arthur laughed.

"We'll see you at the reception," Gwen called out as the pair of them clambered into the back of their wedding car. The photographer was happily snapping away as Gwen cuddled into Arthur's side. She looked up at him with a smile on her face. They shared a kiss again, "We did it."

"We did," he grinned and wrapped his am around her shoulders, "How does it feel to be Mrs Pendragon?"

"Quite fabulous."

Merlin grinned, pleasantly full from the meal he had just consumed, still displaying an embarrassed flush from his speech. He didn't know how he managed it but at somebody people had been laughing so much they're cried, "Please welcome to the floor, the happy couple, Arthur and Guinevere Pendragon."

Arthur, ever the gentleman, led Gwen to the centre of the dance floor and took her waist with his other hand. Over the speakers crackled to life with Gavin DeGraw's 'Waterfall' filling the room.

"Not so much a first dance, more like a first sway."

"Well after discovering your complete inability to not stand on my toes, it's probably a good idea," Arthur teased dropping her hand and pulling her closer to him with his arms wrapped around her.

"Says the boy who had dancing lessons," she replied with a large grin cracking over her face, "Do you know how amusing that is?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "You did insist on telling me through your hysteria, yes."

"I'm sorry, but Arthur, the manly man, had dancing lessons," she couldn't stop herself from laughing again just as she had done a month ago when she had discovered the very same fact.

"And Guinevere, the girly girl, didn't," he commented with a raised eyebrow. It hadn't been his decision. His family had attended many a charity events throughout his childhood that he couldn't avoid, and dancing, or having the knowledge to do so, was a certain must. Incredibly old fashioned of the events but Uther had insisted on it. For Morgana too, but Gwen hadn't found that nearly as funny.

"Hardly a girly girl."

"No, I remember," he removed his hat from his head, having been insistent that he had to wear it until now. With an amused smirk on his face he placed the top hat on her head.

"You'll ruin my hair," she complained but made no move to take it off.

"I'll do more than that, later," Gwen laughed and leant her temple on Arthur's shoulder taking in the music and letting the happiness she felt engulf her.

The song drew to an end, with the reception attendees all cheering. Gwen moved to sit down again only to have Arthur grabbed her hand and pull her back to the centre of the floor, "If you would all please stand and make your way to the dance floor, it would be mostly appreciated."

"Arthur, what's going on?" Arthur arranged their guests in a large circle, positioning himself between his wife and his sister, "Oh, you didn't."

"I think you'll find: I did," Another song started up, chirpy and cheerful, "Even you can't mess up this dance," she snorted in amusement as the crowd of people started to sing along and mime the actions to the Hokey Cokey.

x

Gwen sat waiting for Arthur. Tom had picked Lexie up from school, like he would usually to bring her back to their apartment straight away, but Gwen had called him, she had something she needed to do first. Being the doting Grandpa, Tom had agreed and had promised to have her home for bedtime.

She could hear Arthur on the other side of the door fumbling with his keys. She let out a deep breathe and stood up.

"Hey, I'm," he started slightly louder expecting there to be more of a racket, then he noticed that there was only Gwen stood by the kitchen counter, "Home," he finished at half the volume, "Are you okay?" he then clocked the paper bag on the counter. He frowned.

Gwen chewed on her lip and smiled, "I don't know for sure, but I, uh," she pushed the paper bag towards him. With a half baffled, half knowing smile on his face he picked out the box in the bag, "I thought you'd like to be present this time."

Gwen sat on the edge of the bath with Arthur sitting opposite her on the floor leaning against the wall. He was leaning against his hand looking up at her with the test set on the sink to the side of them.

"Did it take this long last time?"

"It's only two minutes, Arthur."

"Feels like twenty."

"Don't be so dramatic."

"Did it drag this much last time?" he rephrased frowned at the white stick he could just see from his seat on the floor.

"I was shit-scared last time. It lasted a lot longer," her alarm sounded on her phone. Nervously the pair of them stood up, Arthur bounding from the floor. They both looked at the stick. Gwen turned to look up at Arthur with a broad smile on her face. Arthur speechlessly turned to her and cupped her cheek and kissed her firmly on the lips.

"We're going to have to find a bigger place," he commented and kissed he again as she laughed.

x

At eight o'clock in the evening the tube carriage was deserted with only two figures sat side by side facing each other.

"Okay, take it slowly," Arthur said to his six year old daughter. She giggled and tucked her loose, curly, black hair behind her ear.

"A," she laughed again as she clapped her hands. Arthur copied the movement, "Sai-" she held up her right hand and her father put his left to it, "The other one, silly," she giggled again, her laugh infectious and making Arthur smile. He raised his right hand and she high-fived it, "Lor," she clapped her own hands again, "Went," she raised her left hand for her father to hit his hand to, "To," again she clapped her hands together. Assuming her now had the hang of it Arthur raised his right hand only to have his daughter hold up both of her hands to his confusion. He quickly adapted, "Sea," they clapped hands, "Sea," and again, "Sea," and one final time.

"To see what he could see see see," she guided him through the repeated movements a touch faster than the time before, giggling all over her own words, "And all that he could see see see, was the bottom of the deep blue sea sea sea."

"I think I've got it," he said having awkwardly finished the rhyme.

"Again, again, again," she said quickly and started to quickly recite the rhyme and sped up as she went.

The tube pulled into the station closest to the hospital and Arthur picked up her bag, "Come on, Blob," he held out his hand and she grabbed it as she jumped from the seat, "Mum's awaiting."

"And Jammy."

Arthur smiled, "Yeah, and Jammy. Don't let go of my hand, okay?"

"Okay, Daddy," she clutched his hand tightly and jumped out of the open doors onto the platform.

"Please be careful, Blob."

x

"Lexie, please be careful with your brother!" Gwen cringed as the nine year old ran full pelt down the garden pulling a three-year-old Jamie behind her.

"Yes Mum!" she chirped as they disappeared behind the rose bushes towards the small brook at the end of the garden that she'd been fascinated with since they'd moved three years ago.

"Arthur," Gwen called back into the house, "Get the first aid kit."

"What's she done now," he said appearing at the door with the box in his hand.

"It's not what she's done, it's what she's going to do," Gwen commented. Arthur laughed and placed the first aid kit down on the garden table and edged up behind his wife hooking his chin into the nook of her neck and wrapped his arms around her expanding waistline.

"Well, hopefully Blobby the Third will be the sensible one," the heat of his breath was replaced with his lips on her skin.

"With you as a father and Merlin as an uncle? Chances of us having iany/i sensible children are slim."

"Niv tuned out alright and she's half Merlin," Gwen elbowed him in the stomach, but his wasn't the only cry they heard. Gwen swiped the first aid kit from the garden table and ran, as fast as 'Blobby the Third' would allow her, towards the cries.

x

The sound of raised voices alerted all the three children, all of which had been previously asleep, that there was something wrong in the Pendragon Household.

"Who the i_hell/i _do you think you are?" there was a smash as a ceramic late was launched across the room. Lexie flinched and tried to pull her younger siblings away from the stairwell. They didn't need to see this or hear it.

"I haven't done anything wrong!" Their father argued straight back.

"No? Who the fuck is she then, Arthur?"

"She's a patient-"

"Oh fucking fantastic. Had enough of your wife and three kids that you go off with the first patient who wants it! Twelve years of marriage obviously means so little to you!"

"Gwen, for god's sake, listen to yourself! She was grateful, that's all!"

"She's bloody well looked it! What did you do for her, Arthur? She didn't even have a major problem!"

"Gwen, just listen to me. i_Nothing_/i happened. i_She/i _kissed i_me/i_."

"And that makes it all okay?"

"Of course not, but not for one millisecond did I think it was okay!"

"'She kissed me, but it's okay I didn't enjoy it'."

"That's not what I said."

"Then what are you saying, Arthur? Because that is exactly what it sounds like to me."

"I i_love/i_ you. That's all I could think about. Was you, the kids, i_everything_/i we have."

"Well everything we have is watching us," Lexie looked down at her parents, and dropped her four year old sister's hand and stopped trying to push her seven year old brother away. The two youngest took off back towards their rooms when they realised they'd been caught out. Both of them crying but neither said a word.

"Lex-"

She slowly shook her head and turned her back on her feuding parents, slowly walking back to her room.

"We should talk to her."

"I'll go," Gwen stated and stormed past the object of her anger and pushed her way up the stairs.

"I don't want to hear it, Mum," their daughter retorted as her bedroom door opened, she was lying with her back to the door.

"I'm sorry you had to hear that."

"I think the whole village heard that," after a few awkward silent seconds she rolled over on her bed and glared at Gwen, "You're not splitting up are you?"

"Not today," she attempted to smile reassuringly.

"Good. I think you guys owe Jamie and Ava a hug and a bit of reassurance. They're terrified."

"I'm sorry, Lexie. Parents argue sometimes. We've been married for a long time, Lex, we've never argued before. It's only natural," she reasoned, sitting on the edge of her eldest child's bed, she ran her hand up her arm.

"But it's scary, Mum."

"I know, I'm sorry," she beckoned her into her grasp and hugged her tightly. There was a soft knock on the door. Arthur slipped in without an invite and moved over to the bed. He took up the final empty spot on the bed and pulled his daughter to him.

"I'm sorry, Blob."

"I don't think it's me you should be apologising to," she said through her tears.

"Sorry," he pressed a light kiss to both of their foreheads.

The door cracked open again, the light from the landing revealed their two other children sheepishly standing. Arthur held out his arm and they quietly ran across the wooden floor and jumped into their arms onto the bed and joined in the hug.

"I love you all so much, I'm sorry we argued," Ava dug her head into his chest, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. Jamie did the same to his mother, both of which parents kissed the tops of their heads and pulled their three children into a hug.

x

Gwen sat her eldest daughter down on the side of her bed and raised a wipe to her cheek. She gently rubbed it down over her skin. She gave the teenager the wipe and let her remove the cosmetics from her eyes with fresh tears falling down her cheeks.

The thirteen-year-old sniffed, "I just want him to like me."

Gwen pulled her daughter into her arms running her fingers through her loose curls that were hanging over her shoulders. Her eyes now a deep brown, just like Gwen's unlike when she was born, "You don't need all this gunk on your face to make him like you, sweetie."

"But he likes Nara and she wears it," she cried into he mothers shirt, her cries racking her shoulders as her nose started to run. She was thirteen, Gwen hadn't been expecting this for at least another year.

"You're beautiful without it, Lex, you don't need it. If he can't see how stunning you are, chances are he's not worth it. Or, he's just shy. It took your Dad ten years to tell me he loved me. Maybe this Gary just needs time."

"Gareth."

"Sorry," Gwen said trying not to laugh at her own mistake, knowing he emotional daughter wouldn't take it well, "Gareth."

Pushing the trolley through the vegetable section of Sainsbury's Gwen hadn't expected for her normally talkative daughter to suddenly start silently tugging on her sleeve to gander her attention, "Mum."

"Yes, sweetie?"

Lexie turned her back on the direction they had been walking, planting her feet to the floor, "He's over there."

"Who is?" Gwen asked looking over her daughter's shoulder for somebody she may have known.

"Gareth."

"Where?" She asked suddenly very interested to know who this kid was to win such affections from Lexie.

"By the grapes," she mumbled through the side of her mouth looked at her school jumper sleeves that she had pulled over her hands.

"He's kinda cute," Gwen commented smirking down at her daughter who promptly hit her on the arm.

"Mum, that's so wrong."

"What do you want me to say?" Gwen defended continuing the push the trolley in his direction so she could finish her shopping in under the hour it usually took when she took any of the three children with her, "That he's smiling at you? Go and say hi," she urged nudging the girl in the right direction.

"That's not cool," Lexie demanded glaring at her mother who ushered her away. She smiled at the boy who as looking in their direction and waved her fingers at him. He flushed back and gave a short wave in response, "Mum! Stop it!"

"Oh, come on, he obviously likes you," she continued towards with, "His Mum's saying exactly the same stuff to him that I'm saying to you. Talk to him."

"No way," Lexie dropped back, calling after her mother in nothing more than a hush whisper, "No, Mum i_what_/i are you doing? No!"

"Hi, Guinevere Pendragon," she introduced herself to Gareth's mother, holding out her hand.

"Sally Holt," she laughed returning the gesture, "This is my son, Gareth."

"Nice to meet you Gareth, I gather you know my daughter, Lexie?" Gwen reached behind her and caught a hold of her daughter's wrist pulling her toward her.

"Yeah," he scuffed his foot against the floor, his eyes focused there, "y'alight Lex?"

"Umhmm."

Sally and Gwen continued on their shop, leaving the pair of teens awkwardly talking to each other, "It's kinda cute," Gwen mused.

"He's been talking about her non-stop all evening," the boy's mother admitted seemingly just as amused as Gwen had been.

"She's been the same. I swear I didn't have a crush until I was fifteen."

"Ah, she's your oldest?"

"Yeah, is it that obvious?"

Sally laughed as she nodded, "Gareth is the youngest of four."

"Lexie's eldest of three," the started up the fresh meat aisle, both looking back at their children and smiling at the coffee-skinned girl laughed at something the pale male was saying.

Gwen wiped the remains of chocolate sauce from her youngest daughter's chin with a grin, "There you go Ava," the girl beamed and ran away quietly, much different than both her siblings, being quiet and preferring to have tea parties with her toys over running around like a maniac in the back garden. Lexie appeared with her empty dinner plate and placed it in the sink, "How's Gareth?" Gwen asked with an intrigued look on her face.

Arthur stopped washing plates in order to eye his eldest child, "Who's Gareth?"

"Who?" the girl asked nonchalantly as she opened the fridge and pulled the orange juice carton from the door.

Gwen's jaw dropped, she was most definitely her father's daughter, "The boy who had you blushing in the middle of the supermarket last week."

"Oh, he's going out with Julia," she said with a shrug.

"Slimball," Gwen said aghast.

"She liked him first."

Arthur dried his hands in the tea towel and nodded his head, "I like that rule."

Gwen shot him a look, "Be quiet."

"Being quiet," he turned his attention back to the plates in the rack and began to dry them.

"Whatever. I didn't like him that much anyway," Lexie shrugged her shoulders again taking a sip from the carton.

"Get a glass," her mother ordered reached to open the cupboard, "You were crying over him last week."

"Whoa, Blob, what?"

"Stop calling me that, Dad."

"Old habits."

"Yeah, ancient," she smirked abandoning both glass and carton on the side to run away as he launched himself after her with the tea towel still in his hand. Gwen rolled her eyes and finished pouring the juice into the container and returning the carton to the fridge.

"I surrender, I surrender!" she could hear her daughter cry out, laughter in her voice, "Daaaad!"

"No more crying over losers."

"Okay, okay," she giggled. Gwen saw them on the sofa, Lexie pulled down from standing as Arthur undoubtedly launched his attack on her. He had his arms protectively around her as she laughed and placed a loving kiss to her forehead before letting her go.

Lexie rolled off the sofa, landing in a crouched position on the balls of her feet before she trotted over to Gwen and took the glass from her hands. She smiled sweetly at her and pushed onto her toes to kiss her mother on the cheek, "Love you, Mum."

"Love you too, sweetie. No amount of love will get you out of doing your homework."

"Damn, foiled again."

Alexandria held up her hands, "No way, Dad, I'm not getting in that," she pointed at the death trap that he presented her with.

"It'll be fun!"

"You're meant to be the responsible adult."

"You are no fun, Blobby."

"They'll chuck us out and I'll never get a new room. And don't call me Blobby."

"You've done it before," he shot back ignoring her other plea.

She frowned at him, "No I haven't."

"Sure you did," he grinned back and edged towards her with the trolley, "You may not have been born at the time, but you rode in a trolley."

"Why did they ever let you and Mum leave the hospital with me?"

"Because if they didn't I'd have them fired," he beamed back at her with an amused glint in his eye.

"You're both nutters," she confirmed. She looped her arms through his and looked up at him sincerely, "Can we please just go in, buy paint and come out again. We don't even need a trolley!"

"Sure we do?"

"No," she started to back away, "No we don't, Dad, come near me and I'll scream kidnap."

"Fine. Fifteen years of waiting, you are a let down child. Jamie would do it," he tried to tempt her, only she was having none of it.

"Then go get Jamie. I'd like to be in one piece when I get home and Mum would i_kill_/i you if you break me."

"I won't break you."

Slowly she smiled which Arthur took as an agreement, "You're a bad influence."

x

Lexie led back in her bed, her mobile phone on her stomach occasionally lighting up alerting her to a new message. She turned the page of her book. The door to her room opened revealing Gwen with an empty box in her hand.

Right; packing. University. Singing.

"Do you ever think that Dad's a bit disappointed that I don't want to be a doctor?" she asked her mother as she closed her book and rested it on her bedside table.

Gwen frowned, flattening the duvet before she sat down, "What makes you say that?"

She shrugged, "He just does this thing."

"What thing?"

"He tugs out the corner of his mouth and looks like he's chewing the inside of his lip," she demonstrated and picked up her phone and started to fiddle with it.

Gwen nodded in understanding and smiled, "That's his thoughtful look," she corrected pushing her daughter's fringe out of he face with delicacy, "He told me he would be so happy if you defied everything he ever did."

She brightened considerably, "Does that mean I can skip uni?"

"I wouldn't push him that far," Gwen laughed as she laid her hand over her daughters giving it a gentle squeeze, "You have to at least try it."

"It's such a waste of money," she groaned flopping down into her pillow.

"Darling, don't worry about that. We want you to try new things. If you don't get along with it, you don't have to carry on."

"I just don't see the point," she hadn't really seen the point back when she'd auditioned for her place at the Guildhall, she'd gone for it to make her Dad happy. The look on his face when he found out she's been accepted.

"You got in. Try it, if you don't like it you can come back and rock out with Rory, or whatever it is you two do."

"Mum," she started seriously sitting up and taking her hand in hers, "You're i_way_/i too old to use that phrase."

"Oi!"

"Don't tell me that forty-four is the new eighteen," she covered her ears with the palms of her hands and started to hum.

"I'm incredibly fashionable," Gwen pulled on he daughter's wrists so she would listen.

"In your head, Mum. I love you, but be a Mum. Fuss that my skirt is too shot and my top is too low cut."

"And your father?"

"Has gracefully accepted his fate at forty-five, and connects with his kids making them watch his ancient Buffy DVDs and programs about dinosaurs if you're Ava."

Gwen laughed, her youngest child's interest into dinosaurs and bones was boarding on obsessive, she watched Jurassic Park on a weekly basis and had watched every single dinosaur film and television series with them in that they had been able to provide, "She won't be a doctor either."

"And Beni_ji/i_?" the girl had inherited her Father's ability to put a twang on any name she ever said, she'd even mastered her father's rendition of her mother's name without so much as practise.

"Follows his uncle around all the time. He's following in our footsteps," Jamie, or Benji as his sister had taken to calling him over the last few years, didn't have the attention span to spend an intense amount of time at university, but his heart was in the right place.

"Don't tell Dad that. Nurses get him excited."

Gwen quirked her eyebrow and stood suddenly feeling awkward, "And with that I'm going. Good night, Lex," she headed towards the door.

"Don't pretend you didn't play Doctors and Nurses," Lexie called after her.

"You don't need to know."

"You're right," Lexie cringed at the mental image she had caused herself and buried her head in her pillow, "Old people love," she complained, "it's disturbing."

Gwen laughed, "Go to sleep, Lexie."

She sneaked a look up from the pillows to see her mother's hand hovering over the light switch. She deposited her phone on top of her book and cuddled into her bed, "Night Mum."

Gwen turned out the lights and shut the door behind her.

Lexie's phone lit up, buzzing on the softer surface of her bookcover. She grabbed up the device and with a gin on her face read the message.

i_You know what, Blobby, I think your Dad is a lege./i_

She groaned, her Dad was such an embarrassment and now even Rory, the guitarist of their small garage band, had started on the nickname.

i_Screw you, Roooreeee. You're helping me pack tomorrow. X/i_

A minute later she got her reply.

i_You decided to go then? Jolly good show young chap. What what. Night x/i_

"Ava, please stop winding up your brother. Jamie, stop winding up your sister and help your father. Lexie, go grab a box, pack the last few things."

"What do you need me to do, Mrs P?" Rory appeared up the path having placed the last of the filled boxes into the back of the car.

"Call me Gwen, Rory, for starters, then go and see what Lex needs you to do," she smiled looking for Ava who had just started wailing about something else now Jamie had disappeared.

"Sure thing," he saluted her, "later Mrs P."

"Gwen."

"You're Blobby's Mum, I can't call you Gwen. That's so weird."

"And calling her Blobby isn't?" she asked amused. Eighteen years and the nickname still hadn't disappeared. Through no fault to trying, just Arthur being incredibly stubborn about it.

"Not at all," the boy smiled from under his hair, "Mr P does it, thus, it's cool."

"Hah!" Gwen glared at her husband who had appeared from the house at what she considered the wrong moment, "You hear that, I'm cool."

"He didn't say you were cool. He said the nickname was."

"Thus, I am."

"No. Rory?" she looked to the boy for back-up, but he was already half way into the house.

"I'm not getting in the middle of this, Mrs P. Blobs awaits."

Gwen turned to Arthur with her hands balled on her hips, "If that becomes her stage name, I'm divorcing you."

"Blobby and the Hobbit?" Arthur asked, highly amused.

"Harsh, Mr P. Harsh," Rory picked up the box Lexie had sent him back for, "I'll suggest it," he grinned running his fingers through his black fringe and heading back into the cottage and up the stairs.

x

The table was set, with twelve place settings with a bottle of champagne on ice in the middle of the table. Merlin and Morgana bought through crockery, with Niv following her parents with as many champagne flutes as she could manage.

Birthday celebrations weren't something to be taken lightly in the Pendragon household, the entire family got invited, regardless of what you wanted to do as well as. Being Jamie's eighteenth meant they pulled out all the stops.

Gwen had prepared her son's favourite meal with his help. Whilst it cooked, however, he'd disappeared on the new motorbike his father had determinedly bought him after his old bike had fallen to pieces. Jamie had wanted to restore it, but the local mechanic had deemed it not a good idea.

He came back, his curly hair slick to his skin. He'd kissed his mother on the cheek as he re-entered the kitchen from outside. She pushed him away, "Shower. Then dinner will be ready."

"Yes, Mum," he laughed and trotted away up the stairs.

Arthur stood to pour champagne into all of the flutes. Jamie taking a quick swig from his as if it was his first drink, only to have Gwen bat his arm.

Arthur filled Rory's glass, his hair now it's natural blonde, and he accepted it gladly, only when he reached his eldest child was he refused, "Not for me, Dad."

"No?" Gwen had a sudden flash of twenty-five years ago. All of the parents in the room would have been considerably younger. She smirked and raised an eyebrow at her.

"Mum, Dad, I've got something to tell you."

THE END

Thank you everybody who has read this story along the way and especially all those who have commented. It means so much to me. Thank you all!

And a super massive thank you to lj user="noodlesishere" for the prompt and lj user="mustbethursday3" for being so fantastic.


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